While some continue to talk about charging for online news content, others are busy doing it. The latest member of the paid content club is weekly public affairs magazine The Spectator, which on Thursday removed all current and archive magazine content from its website and launched a campaign to get readers to pay for it. The Coffee House blog, well respected in Westminster, remains free as do blogs from star contributors.
Editor-in-chief Andrew Neil says: “The idea of a magazine or newspaper giving away its content for free over the internet was never particularly logical, but the industry was feeling its way in a new market. The Spectator has now agreed a clear business model, online and offline.” He claims the site is “profitable within its own right” through advertising and sponsorship and the online-only content will remain free. “But the magazine is a distinct entity and has to be paid for.”
So if you want the magazine, it’s either a £135-a-year print subscription or you can get it in online, pdf jpeg-based page-turning format via webzine technology provider Exact Editions for £67.50 a year. There’s even a free issue on Exact Editions to entice you in — my view is it’s far from the most user-friendly format out there and the collapse of John Menzies Digital showed what the public make of online page-turning magazine replicas.
It’s either trying to build a US audience or is preempting a UK launch for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, but you can get also get a Kindle subscription for $4.99 a week.

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