Only handful of readers willing to pay for Newsday content
We reported last fall on Newsday’s website revamp and decision to start charging for its content. The Daily News is reporting that during a recent staff meeting last week, publisher Terry Jimenez admitted that a mere 35 people were willing to shell out the $5 a week for full access the new website.
Newsday.com to try subscription model
Newsday.com will start charging $5 a week for access to most of its online content. It goes without saying, perhaps, that when the biggest suburban newspaper in the country — and the 11th largest overall in US — makes such a decision, both subscriber-model skeptics and boosters will be watching closely.
Newsday managing editor Debby Krenek sees the move as a good fit for Long Island:
“We are excited about this model because in addition to a unique ability to immediately reach about 75 percent of Long Island households, we believe the hyper-local approach is right for Long Island.”
It all begins next Wednesday (Oct. 28). Sounds plausible, really, given the smart tabloid’s enormous weekday circulation, reported at nearly 400,000. But will what works in an unusual news-consumer ecosystem such as Long Island — densely populated, comparably well-educated, quite wealthy — work elsewhere?
