When the New York Times puts up its paywall later this month, it will be the fifth newspaper among the top 50 by circulation in the U.S. to charge for online access; a sixth, its sibling Boston Globe, is expected to do so later this year. All six papers are taking varying approaches — including charging different prices and making a different set of content available online for free. Here’s a capsule look at some of the key differences.
|
Newspaper |
Paid circulation |
Using metered model? |
Free online access for print subscribers? |
Weekly price of online-only subscription |
What’s behind the wall |
What’s free |
Notes |
Date instituted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2,061,142 |
No |
No |
$2.99 |
“Core” business and financial news and analysis |
Homepage, section fronts, previews of all articles, as well as selected stories and videos |
The WSJ includes its online subscribers in its total circulation figure. |
1996 |
|
|
876,638 |
Yes |
Yes |
$3.75 (includes mobile app access) |
Essentially all content after you’ve consumed 20 free articles a month |
Homepage, section fronts, blog fronts and classifieds |
The weekly price goes up to $8.75 a week if users want to access the paper on all of their devices. |
2011 |
|
|
314,848 |
No |
Yes |
$5 |
Any full article |
Homepage, section fronts, photo galleries, blogs, classifieds |
Cablevision’s broadband subscribers in the region get free access to the Newsday site. |
2009 |
|
|
264,459 |
No |
Yes |
$2.31 |
Most news and information by the newspaper’s reporters |
Homepage, breaking news, blogs, obituaries, classifieds, and wire stories |
The Morning News lets online subscribers “debundle” their subscriptions — they can pay for either mobile or web access or both. |
2011 |
|
|
222,683 |
No |
Yes |
To be announced |
Almost all of the content published in the print newspaper |
Homepage, breaking news, weather, sports and entertainment guides |
When the Globe’s paywall goes live later this year, the paper will have two sites: a free Boston.com and a paid BostonGlobe.com. |
2011 |
|
|
177,633 |
No |
Yes |
$1.48 |
Complete versions of local articles |
Homepage, breaking news, brief versions of articles in the newspaper, wire stories, weather, movie listings, and video features |
The Democrat-Gazette has said its long-standing paywall has helped keep its paid circulation relatively steady over the last several years. |
2002 |
Compiled by Joseph Tartakoff
Published: March 19, 2011

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