Sunday Times will have to do more to justify any paywall

Yesterday's announcement by the Times group that the Sunday Times' website is to be uniquely branded as a separate pay platform has shocked the media blogosphere.

The Telegraph's Shane Richmond is not a fan of the move citing five reasons why it won't work

1.That customers won't pay if there is free content elsewhere

2.that unique content won't be enough giving the example of the Independent's pay wall of a few years ago where the best writers could only be viewed at a premium.

3.that unlike say the Ft,they are not communicating to a niche market

4.part of the uniqueness of a Sunday paper is that it is a paper and will be lying around all week to browse

5.

Separating a Sunday newspaper from its daily sister seems like a recipe for online disaster to me. Will the new, stand-alone Sunday Times update on a weekly basis?

I think that Shane has got this spot on.It will have to offer something different to justify the pay wall.

Now here is an idea-what about a purely investigative paper funded by the subscription?