One of Europe’s largest news magazines, Der Spiegel, will cut staff by 20% and launch a paywall to fight a decline in advertising and circulation, said Reuters.

Based in Germany, the weekly magazine has print circulation of about 870,000, and is part of the largest print market in Europe. Along with the magazine, Spiegel has a currently-free news site, featuring its investigative reporting, including some of its magazine content. Some of the publication’s longer articles can only be read in the print version, or downloaded for a small fee.In a statement about the changes, Spiegel-Verlag head Thomas Hass said, “These are tough and painful cuts that we are facing … But there is unfortunately no alternative to these job cuts if we want to secure the financial future of our companies.”In addition to the staffing cuts and putting up a paywall, Spiegel is considering other changes, said Reuters, including launching new offers in regional sections of the weekly magazine, a curated, daily digital news service, and a fee-based international version.This news comes two years after Der Spiegel chief Wolfgang Bchner said that he wouldn’t put up a paywall.”I don’t think much of the idea of putting a price on Spiegel Online either partly or as a whole,” said Bchner in an interview on DW.com.He also said that online content was a tool to draw attention to Spiegel’s print edition, and he felt that paywalls in Germany would be unprofitable for private media companies because public broadcast companies receive taxpayer support, making it easier to post their content for free.Insider Take:Der Spiegel is facing the same challenges so many other media companies are facing – finding a subscription business model that works. Gone are the days of solely counting on print subscription and advertising dollars. Companies must use their experience and audience data, as well as technology and innovation, to structure a financially sustainable model, many of which include a paywall.Last week we reported the Dallas Morning News is going back to the paywall drawing board for the third time. Two weeks before that Condé Nast announced its plans to shut down Details magazine, and the week before that Tribune Publishing announced its move to a metered paywall in 2016.We’re curious to see how Der Spiegel structures its paywall and redesigns its other offerings. As other companies like The New Yorker have shown, a successful strategy is multi-faceted and can include a creative mix of new products and services, premium offerings, membership programs, loyalty rewards and other changes.To yield the best results, Der Spiegel will research and test each change – including price points and paywall options – on a small scale before entirely blowing up their current model. And, as always, we encourage them to be open and transparent about the changes, keeping their readers and subscribers in the loop along the way. This will help them to be nimble and avoid any big surprises.We’ll keep you posted as the magazine’s new pay model evolves.~ Dana E. Neuts