The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEW/PEJ) released their annual State of the News Media report today, and announced that, overall, digital news consumption increased in 2012.

In fact, roughly 450 of the country’s 1,380 daily papers have or are about to launch metered paywalls, allowing news media to stem the decline of circulation revenues. While most sites have not seen the sort of revenues garnered by The New York Times, many newspaper executives feel that digital paid content will allow news organizations to generate a nearly equal mix of circulation and advertising revenues.

But that format of digital content may also be shifting. A recent Press+ survey found that sites can lower their meter count and increase subscription price with little backlash. But the PEW/PEJ report also found that mobile usage is growing rapidly: Some 31% of adults now own a tablet, and 42% own a smartphone. This phenomenon is giving rise to the “multiplatform” news consumer.

However, just like the beginnings of online news, advertising dollars are weak in the mobile space, mainly because the small screens make engagement harder. Thus, we strongly recommend news sites — or any paid content sites — looking to launch in the mobile space adopt freemium or premium models, where consumers are forced to pay for some levels of access.

But the PEW report is sparse on subscription sales, choosing to focus more on advertising. Fortunately, our 2013 Online Subscription Benchmark Report has plenty information about subscription sales, conversion rates, pricing and best practices for the news niche.