INM May Start Charging For Independent.co.uk Content

imageCould The Independent be the the next newspaper to charge for its online content? Very possibly, according to newly appointed Independent News and Media CEO designate Gavin O’Reilly, who took over from father, Tony, last week. He tells The Telegraph (ironically, the article doesn’t appear to be online): “Our experience has been that the web is a financially deflationary area. I think we will see more and more content moving to subscription… We are looking at some charge structure.” O’Reilly appears to be referring not just to the flagship Indie, but to the company’s 200 websites attached to newspapers in South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and 19 other countries.

The Telegraph also asserts that News International is considering charging for some Times Online content, addressing a rumour that surfaced some weeks ago, though the paper’s “sources” concede it is only being considered alongside “other potential revenue streams”. We learned last month that FT.com considered charging for access to its popular markets analysis Alphaville blog, but decided against the idea. More after the jump…

O’Reilly, a bullish champion of print newspapers, says: “We have got to respect the value of our writers…I want to look at online in that regard.” But would it work? The Indie has long pitched itself as the outsider of Fleet Street; a liberal-minded, outspoken voice popular with a small but loyal audience — it attracted 10.2 million unique users in January, which is far below its rivals but its audience is growing fast. So while there is an audience for the Indie online, the site in its current form may be too general for the majority of readers to pay for given all the free competition.

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