88-533: The Australian Financial Review ( AFR ) is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney , New South Wales, Australia; owned by Nine Entertainment and has been published continuously since its founding in 1951. The AFR is published in tabloid format six times a week, whilst providing 24/7 online coverage through its website. In November 2019,
176-616: A finance newsroom . It has consistently been well received by the journalism sector as one of the most high-quality newsrooms across Australia. Since the 2000s, the AFR has launched BOSS (magazine for business leadership and strategy) and the Sophisticated Traveller magazine. In 2019, the Australian Financial Review recorded double-digit subscriber growth, as it continued to market its newspaper as
264-482: A "hard" paywall. It continued to be widely read, acquiring over one million users by mid-2007, and 15 million visitors in March 2008. In 2010, following in the footsteps of The Wall Street Journal , The Times (London) implemented a "hard" paywall; a decision which was controversial because, unlike The Wall Street Journal , The Times is a general news site, and it was said that rather than paying, users would seek
352-691: A growing belief that digital subscriptions will be the key to securing the long-term survival of newspapers. In May 2019, research by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford showed that despite the controversies surrounding paywalls, these were on the rise across Europe and the United States. According to the study by Felix Simon and Lucas Graves, more than two-thirds of leading newspapers (69%) across
440-453: A large portion of people." In his article discussing the removal of paywalls, Sonderman commends The New York Times' action, stating that, while a publisher "commits to a paywall as the best business strategy for his news company, there may be some stories or subjects which carry such importance and urgency that it is irresponsible to withhold them from nonsubscribers." Similarly in 2020, a large number of outlets exempted stories relating to
528-422: A major deterrent for users. Financial blogger Felix Salmon wrote that when one encounters a "paywall and can't get past it, you simply go away and feel disappointed in your experience." Jimmy Wales , founder of the online encyclopedia Misplaced Pages , argued that the use of a "hard" paywall diminishes a site's influence. Wales stated that, by implementing a "hard" paywall, The Times "made itself irrelevant." Though
616-476: A monthly digital news subscription – 50% less than the average price (€14.09) across countries. According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (Simon and Graves 2019), €14.09 is the average monthly subscription price across six European countries and the United States." Hackett argues that a "forum on the internet [...] can function as a specialized or smaller-scale public sphere." In
704-428: A paper copy?" While subscription fees have long been attached to print newspapers, all other forms of news have traditionally been free. Online news, in comparison has existed as a medium of free dissemination. Poynter digital media fellow Jeff Sonderman outlines the ethical tension created by a paywall. Sonderman explains that "[t]he underlying tension is that newspapers act simultaneously as businesses and as servants of
792-527: A paywall restricts equal access to the online public sphere is through requiring payment, deterring those who do not want to pay, and barring those who cannot from joining the online discussion. The restriction of equal access was taken to a new extreme when the UK's The Independent in October 2011 placed a paywall on foreign readers only. Online news media have the proven ability to create global connection beyond
880-486: A paywall that requires it) or using third-party tools like 12ft . Data on the number of readers who bypass paywalls is often unclear to publishers due to the variety of options employed to circumvent paywalls, and responses from publishers have been mixed. In 2023, the Financial Times expressed a lack of concern over paywall circumvention, finding that only a small portion of its readers bypass its paywalls, while
968-445: A paywall was done because the newspaper company thought it could further monetise its niche business audience who could afford it. Following this change, the AFR continued to adjust the pricing of its subscription due to low subscriber growth. In 2011, it newly introduced a freemium paywall in which only a small portion of articles were free. It has been noted that the AFR's website locks approximately 86% of its online content behind
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#17327717598041056-511: A paywall, higher than its closest competitor the National Business Review . This was aimed at increasing its digital readership which in 2011 amounted to 6,000 subscribers. In addition, it was later determined that the AFR's failures in attracting online subscribers was due to its paywall being too expensive. Its 2012 price of $ 59 AUD was notably higher than other international mastheads, including The New York Times which
1144-407: A paywall. Such a strategy has been said to lead to "the creation of two categories: cheap fodder available for free (often created by junior staffers), and more 'noble' content." This type of separation brings into question the egalitarianism of the online news medium. According to political and media theorist Robert A Hackett , "the commercial press of the 1800s, the modern world's first mass medium,
1232-460: A site for them." By March 2014 the site had over 60,000 digital subscribers; at that time, the Globe announced that it would replace the hard paywall with a metered system allowing users to read 10 articles without charge in any 30-day period. The Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory believed that an ability to sample the site's premium content would encourage more people to subscribe to the service. At
1320-643: A smaller format edition in 2003 for London's commuters , designed to be easier to read when using mass transit . Readers from other parts of the country liked the new format, and The Independent introduced it nationally. The Times and The Scotsman copied the format as The Independent increased in sales. The Times and The Scotsman are now printed exclusively in compact format following trial periods during which both broadsheet and compact version were produced simultaneously. The Independent published its last paper edition on 20 March 2016 and now appears online only. This journalism -related article
1408-439: A social media site, and up to 25 free articles a day if accessed through a search engine. The model is designed to allow the paper to "retain traffic from light users", which in turn allows the paper to keep their number of visitors high, while receiving circulation revenue from the site's heavy users. Using this model The New York Times garnered 224,000 subscribers in the first three months. While many proclaimed their paywall
1496-601: A statement similar to those of the media experts, stating, with the exception of prominent papers such as The Wall Street Journal and The Times , that given the "current public attitudes, most publishers had better start looking elsewhere for revenue solutions." A study by Elizabeth Benítez from the World Association of News Publishers surveyed 355 participants in Mexico, Europe and the United States. The study found that "Young readers are willing to pay up to €6 for
1584-538: A success after it reported a profit in the third quarter of 2011, the profit increase is said to be "ephemeral" and "largely based on a combination of cutbacks and the sale of assets." Google Search previously enforced a policy known as "First Click Free", whereby paywalled news websites were required to have a metered paywall for a minimum number of articles per-day (three, initially five) that could be accessed via results on Google Search or Google News . The site could still paywall other articles that were accessible via
1672-417: A three level system: While an open API is regarded as a gamble just like a paywall, journalist Matthew Ingram ethically notes that the use of an open API aims at "profiting from the open exchange of information and other aspects of an online-media world, while the [paywall] is an attempt to create the kind of artificial information scarcity that newspapers used to enjoy." An open API keeps news content free to
1760-433: A traditional printed paper. While a printed paper can be shared among friends and family, the ethics behind sharing an online subscription are less clear because there is no physical object involved. The New York Times' "ethicist" columnist, Ariel Kaminer, addressing the question of sharing online subscription, states that "sharing with your spouse or young child is one thing; sharing with friends or family who live elsewhere
1848-556: A wide-ranging audience. The magazine was published to cover topics other than business including leisure , politics , travel , sports , fashion , and other peripheral topics. In December 2019, the magazine recorded an average issue readership of 326,000. Since its launch in 1995, the AFR Magazine has won the 'Best Newspaper Inserted Magazine' (2013-2019), 'Newspaper Inserted Brand of the Year' (2019) and Mumbrella's 'Special Issue of
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#17327717598041936-500: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This United Kingdom newspaper–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content , with a purchase or a paid subscription , especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years of decline in paid print readership and advertising revenue, partly due to
2024-432: Is an impediment to "equal access to relevant [news] facts." The commodification of information–making news into a product that must be purchased–restricts the egalitarian founding principle of the newspaper. Editor's Weblog reporter Katherine Travers, addressing this issue in a post discussing the future of The Washington Post , asks, "is digital subscription as permissible as charging a couple of dollars now and then for
2112-406: Is another." The reader comments following Kaminer's response focus on the dichotomy between paying for a printed paper and paying for an online subscription. A printed paper's ease of access meant that more individuals could read a single copy, and that everyone who read the paper had the ability to send a letter to the editor without the hassle of registering or paying for the subscription. As such,
2200-399: Is considered the riskiest option for the content provider. It is estimated that a website will lose 90% of its online audience and ad revenue only to gain it back through its ability to produce online content appealing enough to attract subscribers. News sites with "hard" paywalls can succeed if they: Many experts denounce the "hard" paywall because of its inflexibility, believing it acts as
2288-422: Is important to highlight new business initiatives. According to Poynter media expert Bill Mitchell, in order for a paywall to generate sustainable revenue, newspapers must create "new value"—higher quality, innovation, etc.—in their online content that merits payment which previously free content did not. In addition to erecting paywalls, newspapers have been increasingly exploiting tablet and mobile news products,
2376-507: The AFR converted to a bi-weekly, and then established itself as the first daily newspaper by 1963. Despite other newspapers claiming the title of the first daily national paper, Maxwell Newton was the editor in charge of taking the Financial Review from a bi-weekly to the first daily national paper. During 1961–62, the AFR's primary competitor was The Australian Financial Times , which was in operation for less than 12 months. In
2464-437: The AFR launched mobile and iPad compatible applications to provide its digital subscribers more accessibility to its news platform. This was aimed at allowing cross-platform accessibility without having to download two separate applications across different device platforms. The application carries similar features to the website including sections such as: Street Talk and Rear Window. The product management team decided to revamp
2552-403: The AFR reached 2.647 million Australians through both print and digital mediums (Mumbrella). The Australian Financial Review started as a print-only weekly newspaper in 1951, before changing to a bi-weekly in 1961, and a daily newspaper in 1963. The paper now publishes multiple magazines and a supplementary weekend paper, which was launched in 1995. In that same year, the AFR website
2640-502: The AFR , now being published annually in the Australian Financial Review Magazine and on the afr.com . Along with the names of the richest people, the list explicates the person or family's net worth and provides a short summary on the business activities and sector they are engaged in. The valuations are conducted by utilising a mix of publicly available information and private consultations. In 2019,
2728-540: The COVID-19 pandemic from their paywalls as a public service, and to combat misinformation relating to the virus. In April 2020, Canadian newspaper group Postmedia went further and removed its paywall from all content in April 2020, with a sponsorship from a fast food chain. Given the overwhelming opinion that, regardless of paywall success, new revenue sources must be sought out for newspapers' financial success, it
Australian Financial Review - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-538: The Financial Review in Tasmania, with copies to instead be flown in from Melbourne on the following day. The decision was subsequently reversed. In May 2024, printed editions of the Financial Review were discontinued in Western Australia, which Nine attributed to an increase in printing costs by its competitor Seven West Media, the owners of the only suitable printing press in Western Australia. Within
2904-466: The Times had potentially increased its revenue, it decreased its traffic by 60%. The "soft" paywall is best embodied by the metered model. The metered paywall allows users to view a specific number of articles before requiring paid subscription. In contrast to sites allowing access to select content outside the paywall, the metered paywall allows access to any article as long as the user has not surpassed
2992-557: The commodification of information and the dependence of commercial media on advertising revenue" as two of the greatest influences on media performance. According to Hackett, these cultural and economic mechanisms "generate violations of the democratic norm of equality." Implementation of a paywall addresses and intimately ties the two mechanisms cited by Hackett, as the paywall commodifies news content to bring in revenue from both readers and from increased circulation of printed paper's ads. The result of these mechanisms, as stated by Hackett,
3080-580: The "Gold Lizzy" for Best Title at "The Lizzies", aka the IT Journalism Awards, many times, including in 2019, 2021, and 2022. It has also won in other categories, including Best Business Coverage. Compact (newspaper) A compact newspaper is a broadsheet -quality newspaper printed in a tabloid format, especially one in the United Kingdom . The term as used for this size came into use after The Independent began producing
3168-532: The ' Cyprus Confidential ' report on the financial network which supports the regime of Vladimir Putin , mostly with connections to Cyprus, and showed Cyprus to have strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned. Government officials including Cyprus president Nikos Christodoulides and European lawmakers began responding to the investigation's findings in less than 24 hours, calling for reforms and launching probes. AFR has won
3256-611: The 1960s and 1970s, the AFR developed a strong readership amongst a specialist business audience due to its neutral stance on domestic government policies. In the 1970s, despite the AFR's reputation as a national business daily, many saw it as the primary competitor for The Australian given its high proportion of readers in the AB demographic . In 1995, Fairfax launched the Australian Financial Review Magazine in response to its growing readership across
3344-468: The 1990s, the AFR 's reporting focus steered more towards business investigative journalism, scrutinising big corporations, government power and corruption. This was viewed as the AFR making reparations for its lack of scrutiny over the corporate sector in the lead-up to the stock market crash. One major factor that allowed the AFR to undertake deep corporate investigations was that it did not need advertising revenue to stay afloat – its cover price
3432-543: The AFR's daily newspaper, regularly scheduled sections include: Across the AFR group, the team does not only publish newspapers. Its range of operations is listed below: The Financial Review Rich List aims to compile an annual ranking of the wealthiest Australian citizens. The list was first published in the BRW Magazine in 1984. Since its beginnings, the compilation of the list and its publishing have been taken over by
3520-475: The Canadian response to paywalls. Surveying 1,700 Canadians, the study found that 92% of participants who read the news online would rather find a free alternative than pay for their preferred site (in comparison to 82% of Americans ), while 81% stated that they would absolutely not pay for their preferred online news site. Based on the poor reception of paid content by the participants, the study concludes with
3608-679: The EU and US were operating some kind of online paywall as of 2019, a trend that has increased since 2017 according to the researchers, with the US seeing an increase from 60% to 76%. General user response to the implementation of paywalls has been measured through a number of recent studies which analyze readers' online news-reading habits. A study completed by the Canadian Media Research Consortium entitled "Canadian Consumers Unwilling to Pay for News Online", directly identifies
Australian Financial Review - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-672: The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, and the Journalists' union warned the ACCC that the mega-cap takeover would threaten the editorial independence of Fairfax Media's portfolio newspaper companies. Former prime minister Paul Keating also voiced his criticisms labelling the ACCC's decision as "appalling", considering that a more concentrated media industry would reduce coverage of city-specific political issues. In October 2022, Nine announced that it would discontinue printing
3784-474: The News Media's 2011 annual report on American journalism makes the sweeping claim that: "[t]o survive financially, the consensus on the business side of news operations is that news sites not only need to make their advertising smarter, but they also need to find some way to charge for content and to invent new revenue streams other than display advertising and subscriptions." Even those who do not believe in
3872-425: The United States' east coast in late August 2011, The New York Times declared that all storm related coverage, accessed both online and through mobile devices, would be free to readers. The New York Times ' assistant managing editor, Jeff Roberts, discusses the paper's decision, stating: "[w]e are aware of our obligations to our audience and to the public at large when there is a big story that directly impacts such
3960-430: The Year' (2019). The magazine's founding was followed by the launch of the AFR 's website in the same year, which started as a free online source of financial news. In 1997, the AFR launched its Weekend Edition which extended the paper's publications into the weekend, with an explicit focus of targeting the growing readership base by providing news articles outside of the traditional finance setting. In 2016,
4048-472: The app due to the wide uptake of smartphones in the Australian market, and to improve their user-interface experience. The UTS Business School was the launch partner for the app, providing logistical advice on the app's delivery. The app's subscription price is included in the 'all premium digital subscription' bundle. The Australian Financial Review has grown its product offerings since its beginnings as
4136-519: The content. The compatibility of this technique with data protection laws like the General Data Protection Regulation is controversial and multiple data protection agencies have established different guidelines. In countries like Italy, Austria, France and Denmark, it is lawful as long as the website provides the data subject with the option of accessing equivalent content or services without giving his or her consent to
4224-409: The controversial 2013 tax debate regarding taxes for "extraordinary" profits generated by mining companies, major mastheads from regions with high mining interests had almost fourfold the number of negative articles compared to positive articles. The Australian , the biggest national daily, had a large number of both positive and negative articles, but had a limited number of neutral articles. Out of all
4312-432: The creation of packages of general interest. The New York Times , for example, has created packages, mainly ebooks, on baseball, golf and the digital revolution. Also, successful implementation of paywalls in digital media follows a rule of thumb: where there is a drop in advertising revenue, there is a solid chance for adopting a subscription model and/or paywalls. An open API (application programming interface) makes
4400-514: The cut-off for making the Rich List was $ 472m AUD. In 2020, the cut-off was raised to $ 540m AUD. During 1975 to 1983, when The Australian widely articulated its political stance on conservative liberalism , it had been noted that the AFR also promoted neo-liberalism through its news coverage and editorials, exerting influence on the business sphere of Australia and its elitist readership base. The newspaper has also been labelled as one of
4488-618: The daily mastheads, the AFR published the most articles surrounding the tax debate and also the most number of neutral articles. In November 2023, the AFR joined with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists , Paper Trail Media [ de ] and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territories to produce
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#17327717598044576-550: The deal was made, it was reported that Fairfax's portfolio newspapers, including the AFR , would maintain independence from Nine's media groups. As part of the proposed deal, Hugh Marks took over corporate control of the combined group with Fairfax CEO, Greg Hywood , stepping down. The combined entity in 2018 was forecasted to have approximately 6,000 employees (inclusive of all the duplicate roles made redundant), major resources across all media types including print, TV, radio and online; and $ 3 billion in revenue. The proposed merger
4664-402: The driver of Australian business-people's success and ambitions. In 2020, due to the newspaper company's expansion efforts across different readership bases, the AFR reached 2.647m Australians a month. The AFR first introduced its paywall in 2006, charging online users to view its articles – a payment model that had not yet been utilised by any other Australian newspaper firm. The switch to
4752-496: The effectiveness of paywalls in generating revenue and their effect on media in general. Critics of paywalls include many businesspeople, academics such as media professor Jay Rosen, and journalists such as Howard Owens and media analyst Matthew Ingram of GigaOm. Those who see potential in paywalls include investor Warren Buffett , former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch . Some have changed their opinions of paywalls. Felix Salmon of Reuters
4840-444: The general success of paywalls recognize that, for a profitable future, newspapers must start generating more attractive content with added value, or investigate new sources of earning revenue. Proponents of the paywall believe that it may be crucial for smaller publications to stay afloat. They argue that since 90 percent of advertising revenues are concentrated in the top 50 publishers, smaller operations can not necessarily depend on
4928-580: The implementation of their paywall, came to The Guardian for online news. The Guardian since experimented with other revenue-increasing ventures such as open API . Other papers, prominently The New York Times , have oscillated between the implementation and removal of various paywalls. Because online news remains a relatively new medium, it has been suggested that experimentation is key to maintaining revenue while keeping online news consumers satisfied. Some implementations of paywalls proved unsuccessful, and have been removed. Experts who are skeptical of
5016-416: The information without charge elsewhere. The paywall was deemed in practice to be neither a success nor a failure, having recruited 105,000 paying visitors. In contrast The Guardian resisted the use of a paywall, citing "a belief in an open Internet" and "care in the community" as its reasoning – an explanation found in its welcome article to online news readers who, blocked from The Times site following
5104-522: The lead up to the merger, there were a few roadblocks. In 2016, the proposed merger was not feasible due to government legislation surrounding media ownership. In addition, Nine Entertainment's board believed that its share price was undervalued and thus wanted to delay any acquisition until its fair value had been reflected. Amongst the delays in talks between the two parties, Fairfax had other suitors including private equity groups TPG Capital and Hellman & Friedman , which ended up walking away from
5192-558: The newspaper targets a niche audience. There are also those who remain optimistic about the use of paywalls to help revitalize floundering newspaper revenues. Those who believe implementing paywalls will succeed, however, continually buffer their opinion with contingencies. Bill Mitchell states that for a paywall to bring new revenue and not deter current readers, newspapers must: "invest in flexible systems, exploit their journalists' expertise in niche areas, and, crucially, offer readers their money's worth in terms of new value." The State of
5280-457: The online news site "a platform for data and information that [the newspaper company] can generate value from in other ways." Opening their API makes a newspaper's data available to outside sources, allowing developers and other services to make use of a paper's content for a fee. The Guardian , in keeping with its "belief in an open internet", has been experimenting with the use of API. The Guardian has created an "open platform" which works on
5368-616: The overall content even better." In April 2013 the Newspaper Association of America released its industry revenue profile for 2012, which reported that circulation revenue grew by 5 percent for dailies, making it the first year of circulation growth in ten years. Digital-only circulation revenue reportedly grew 275%; print and digital bundled circulation revenue grew 499%. Along with the shift towards bundling print and online into combined access subscriptions, print-only circulation revenue declined 14%. This news corroborates
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#17327717598045456-571: The page. This encouraged publications to allow their articles to be indexed by Google's web crawler , thus enhancing their prominence on Google Search and Google News. Sites that opted out of First Click Free were demoted in Google's rankings . Google discontinued the policy in 2017, stating that it provides additional tools for helping publications integrate subscriptions into its platforms. A "softer" paywall strategy includes allowing free access to select content, while keeping premium content behind
5544-438: The past, the internet has been an ideal location for the general public to gather and discuss relevant news issues – an activity made accessible first through free access to online news content, and subsequently the ability to comment on the content, creating a forum. Erecting a paywall restricts the public's open communication with one another by restricting the ability to both read and share online news. The obvious way in which
5632-413: The paywall debate there are those who see the implementation of a paywall as a "sandbag strategy" – a strategy which may help increase revenue in the short term, but not a strategy that will foster future growth for the newspaper industry. For the "hard" paywall specifically, however, there seems to be an industry consensus that the negative effects (loss of readership) outweigh the potential revenue, unless
5720-604: The paywall model include Arianna Huffington , who declared "the paywall is history" in a 2009 article in The Guardian . In 2010, Misplaced Pages co-founder Jimmy Wales reportedly called The Times's paywall "a foolish experiment." One major concern was that, with content so widely available, potential subscribers would turn to free sources for their news. The adverse effects of earlier implementations included decline in traffic and poor search engine optimization . Paywalls have become controversial, with partisans arguing over
5808-573: The profitability of which remains inconclusive. Another strategy, pioneered by The New York Times , involves creating new revenue by packaging old content in e-books and special feature offerings, to create an appealing product for readers. The draw of these packages is not just the topic but the authors and the breadth of coverage. According to reporter Mathew Ingram, newspapers can benefit from these special offerings in two ways, first by taking advantage of old content when new interest arises, such as an anniversary or an important event, and second, through
5896-416: The propagators of radical liberalism during the 1970s–80s, shaping the policy debate surrounding market deregulation at that time. This was in line with the overarching political stance of all Fairfax Holdings owned newspapers, including The Sydney Morning Herald , which in the 1970s was also right-leaning in its political views. In the wake of the 1987 stock market crash , the Australian news media sector
5984-531: The public while the newspaper makes a profit from the quality and usefulness of its data to other businesses. The open API strategy can be commended because it takes the pressure off of the news room to continually investigate and explore new means of revenue. Instead, the open API strategy relies on the interest and ideas of those outside the newsroom, to whom the site's content and data are attractive. Readers are sometimes able to bypass paywalls by changing their browser settings (e.g. disabling JavaScript to bypass
6072-423: The public’s interest. As for-profit enterprises, they have the right (the duty, even) to make money for shareholders or private owners. But most also claim to have a social compact, in which they safeguard the entire public interest and help their entire community shape and understand its shared values." Some newspapers have removed their paywall from blocking content covering emergencies. When Hurricane Irene hit
6160-558: The reach of non-paywalled online outlets that promote right-wing perspectives, conspiracy theories, and fake news . The use of a paywall to bar individuals from accessing news content online without payment, brings up numerous ethical questions. According to Hackett, media are already "failing to furnish citizens with ready access to relevant civic information." The implementation of paywalls on previously free news content heightens this failure through intentional withholding. Hackett cites "general cultural and economic mechanisms, such as
6248-413: The same time, McGrory also announced plans to give Boston.com a more distinct editorial focus, with a "sharper voice that better captures the sensibilities of Boston", while migrating other content by Globe writers, such as blogs from Boston.com to the paper's website, but keeping them freely available. A cookie banner that requires to either pay or accept ads and third-party cookies in order to read
6336-462: The set limit. The Financial Times allows users to access 10 articles before becoming paid subscribers. The New York Times controversially implemented a metered paywall in March 2011 which let users view 20 free articles a month before paid subscription and in April 2012 they reduced the number of free articles per month to 10. Their metered paywall has been defined as not only soft, but "porous", because it also allows access to any link posted on
6424-413: The storage and use of cookies or other tracking tools and the subscription to the site has a modest and fair cost so that it does not constrain the user’s free choice. Professional reception to the implementation of paywalls has been mixed. Most discussion of paywalls centers on their success or failure as business ventures, and overlooks their ethical implications for maintaining an informed public. In
6512-421: The table. In 2018, Nine Entertainment's board re-entered into talks with Fairfax of a potential merger after its share price had jumped following an upbeat earnings report. The proposed structure of the takeover was 0.3627 Nine shares plus $ 0.025 AUD per Fairfax share, composing a cash plus scrip deal. This represented a 21.9% takeover premium to Fairfax's last close, and valued Fairfax at $ 2313.8mm AUD. Once
6600-429: The traditional ad-supported free content model the way that larger sites can. Many paywall advocates also contend that people are more than willing to pay a small price for quality content. In a March 2013 guest post for VentureBeat , Malcolm CasSelle of MediaPass stated his belief that monetization would become "something of a self-fulfilling prophecy: people [will] pay for content, and that money goes back into making
6688-451: The typical reach of a public sphere. In Democratizing Global Media, Hackett and global communications theorist Yuezhi Zhao describe how a new "wave of media democratization arises in the era of the internet which has facilitated transnational civil society networks of and for democratic communication." The use of paywalls has also received many complaints from online news readers regarding an online subscriptions' inability to be shared like
6776-679: The use of ad blockers . In academics, research papers are often subject to a paywall and are available via academic libraries that subscribe. Paywalls have also been used as a way of increasing the number of print subscribers; for example, some newspapers offer access to online content plus delivery of a Sunday print edition at a lower price than online access alone. Newspaper websites such as that of The Boston Globe and The New York Times use this tactic because it increases both their online revenue and their print circulation (which in turn provides more ad revenue ). In 1996, The Wall Street Journal set up and has continued to maintain
6864-447: The use of a paywall closes off the communication in both the personal realm and online. This opinion is not just held by online news readers, but also by opinion writers. Jimmy Wales comments that he "would rather write [an opinion piece] where it is going to be read", declaring that "putting opinion pieces behind paywalls [makes] no sense." In the U.S., it has been observed that the use of paywalls by high-quality publications has enhanced
6952-500: The user straight away to pay in order to read, listen or watch the content, soft paywalls that allow some free content, such as an abstract or summary, and metered paywalls that allow a set number of free articles that a reader can access over a specific period of time, allowing more flexibility in what users can view without subscribing. The "hard" paywall, as used by The Times , requires paid subscription before any of their online content can be accessed. A paywall of this design
7040-565: Was also put under review by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) on antitrust measures. It was announced in November 2018 that the ACCC would not oppose the merger. The investigation looked at the merger's impact on the online news industry's competition and involved contacting numerous stakeholders. It was noted that the merger would most likely reduce competition in the domestic media market, but that it
7128-399: Was also released, which helped to expand its readership base across all media. The AFR , along with most of Fairfax Media , was purchased by Nine Entertainment in 2018. The Australian Financial Review newspaper started as a weekly publication in 1951, published by John Fairfax & Sons . The paper's main objective was to inform the Australian public on business life and news. In 1961,
7216-409: Was blamed for overlooking corporate corruption and wrongdoings, while publishing mainly favourable news articles handed to them from corporate PR teams. Also during this time, The National Times which was Australia's leading financial investigative journalism newspaper, shut down after the stock market crash. Therefore, during the 2000s, following the financial market failures and economic downturn of
7304-488: Was born with a profound democratic promise: to present information without fear or favour, to make it accessible to everyone, and to foster public rationality based on equal access to relevant facts.". The Boston Globe implemented a version of this strategy in September 2011 by launching a second website, BostonGlobe.com, to solely offer content from the paper behind a hard paywall, aside from most sports content, which
7392-513: Was initially an outspoken skeptic of paywalls, but later expressed the opinion that they could be effective. A NYU media theorist, Clay Shirky, was initially a skeptic of paywalls, but in May 2012 wrote, "[Newspapers] should turn to their most loyal readers for income, via a digital subscription service of the sort the [New York Times] has implemented." Three high level models of paywall have emerged: hard paywalls that allow no free content and prompt
7480-514: Was kept open to compete against other local sports websites. The former Boston Globe website, Boston.com , was relaunched with a larger focus on community news, sports, and lifestyle content, as well as selected Boston Globe content. The paper's editor Martin Baron described the two services as "two different sites for two different kinds of reader – some understand [that] journalism needs to be funded and paid for. Other people just won't pay. We have
7568-515: Was not in breach of the Competition and Consumer Act . The main point of divergence between the two business' assets was that Nine Entertainment's news assets provided mass market news coverage whereas Fairfax Media's news assets provided more specialist coverage. Despite the ACCC's ruling, there were a few stakeholders who voiced their concerns about the merger's impact on the Australian media industry's competitive landscape. Union groups such as
7656-411: Was priced at $ 37.84 AUD. As a result, the AFR has since lowered its digital subscription price to $ 29.50 AUD. The mega-cap deal that saw Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media merge was inspired by initial chats between Hugh Marks (Nine CEO) and Nick Falloon (Fairfax chairman). The pair discussed how the two companies' assets could synergise, improve efficiencies, save costs and increase scale. During
7744-400: Was sufficient. On the other hand, all other daily mastheads needed company advertising to stay profitable. This afforded the AFR 's editors the flexibility to pursue and publish news articles that shed a negative light on major companies without needing to be concerned about its financial impacts. In the early 2010s, the AFR 's political stance has been labelled as neutral. During
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