WSJ.com might charge more for premium content; tips from Alan Murray

Posted by Emma Heald on April 9, 2009 at 8:54 AM

In an interview with Nieman Lab's Zachary M. Seward, executive editor of the Wall Street Journal Online Alan Murray revealed that the paper is planning a "premium initiative" selling "narrower information services" at a higher subscription rate to subsets of its readership. He did not give away too many details but mentioned the possibility of an energy coverage service and news for chief financial officers.

The Wall Street Journal is one of the only Anglophone newspapers to successfully charge for content online, a feat which is generally put down to the face that the news it provides is specific financial information and cannot easily be found elsewhere. Also, it is seen as a useful enough resource that companies will pay for their employees subscriptions. However, in the Nieman Lab interview, although Murray conceded that WSJ does have an advantage from the fact that its audience reads the paper for business and profit-making, he does not believe that only financial news outlets can charge for content. He added that in fact less than 30% of the paper's online subscribers expense subscriptions or take a tax write-off for them.

So what are the secrets for charging for online content? Alan Murray offered Nieman Lab his advice for news organisations considering a pay wall, the first point being that the best model is a mix of paid and free content: it does not have to be a case of all or nothing. And indeed, WSJ allows free access to political, arts and opinion coverage, blogs and certain breaking news stories. Murray does not think that papers should change for the most popular content on their site, rather these sections should be used to build traffic that can be turned into advertising revenue. Crucially, Murray explained, papers should not charge for exclusive breaking news that will just be repeated elsewhere. Holding such stories behind a pay wall just means that someone else will pick it up and offer it free, and hence and get all the traffic.

As for content that could be put behind a pay wall, Murray identified niche topics as having potential, such as high school sports coverage for a local paper. Essentially, it is news that cannot but found elsewhere, and this is an area in which local newspapers may well have a considerable advantage, if they can tap into what their communities really want. It is clear that most of the public will not be prepared to pay for information that is ubiquitous: newspapers have to look for what they can offer that is unique, as the WSJ is doing with its premium financial services.

Source: Nieman Lab via Poynter