AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Washington City Paper Asks Readers: Would You Pay to Read Us?

By AAN Staff

october 21, 2009 11:52 am

It's the big debate in mainstream journalism these days: Should publishers make readers pay to access the paper online? When the New York Times this week announced that more layoffs were on the way, many loyal readers posted comments signaling their interest in paying to read the website to avoid further cuts. Although the paywall debate has been pretty much absent from the alt-weekly world since the newspapers are free to begin with, the outpouring of support from Times readers led Washington City Paper's Jason Cherkis to wonder: "What Would You Pay To Read An Award-Winning Alt-Weekly?" As of this writing, of the five comments that actually address the question, two (and a half) say they'd pay to access City Paper online.

View full article at Washington City Paper