By Katherine NoyesIt’s been almost a year since The Washington Post announced that it was planning to introduce a paywall, and though we wouldn’t consider its implementation perfect, it has employed some promising tactics along the way, including launching an engaging mobile app and using its own journalists to market the paywall.This week, it made another notable move. Specifically, on Tuesday The Post announced that it will soon pilot a new program whereby partner publications can offer The Post’s suite of digital products — spanning its desktop and mobile websites as well as its phone and tablet apps — free as an added value for their own subscribers.Six newspapers have already said they plan to sign up, The Post reports: The Dallas Morning News, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The Toledo Blade, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.”We are excited to partner with The Washington Post on this initiative,” said Jim Moroney, publisher and CEO for The Dallas Morning News. “It’s great that one of the industry’s global brands is experimenting with local media companies like The Dallas Morning News.”The program is slated to launch in May. By that time, The Washington Post app will have been improved to be faster and more intuitive, the publication says. Meanwhile, The Post’s desktop and mobile sites will also be redesigned to create a faster, more robust and immersive experience.”The Post has long been a source for groundbreaking national journalism,” said Stephen Hills, president of the publication. “This program is a way for us to work with newspapers and other print and digital partners around the country to both add value to their subscriptions and expose The Post to a wider audience than ever before.”It’s not clear from The Post’s report if the deal will require anything of partners other than the exposure they’ll inevitably provide, but there’s little doubt said partners will benefit from the arrangement through the value that’s added to their digital subscriptions. As for The Post itself, clearly it believes the exposure justifies giving its content away, but we’d be concerned about the risk of devaluing its own digital subscriptions, and would recommend sharing just a limited set of its content instead. We’ll be watching this one closely to see how it plays out.
Washington Post Offers Free Access for Partners’ Digital Subscribers
By Katherine Noyes It’s been almost a year since The Washington Post announced that it was planning to introduce a paywall, and though we
- Filed in Industry Announcements, News, Subscriber Acquisition
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