Get readers gradually used to paying for content

Barry Ritholtz ruminates on how to save journalism and newspapers over at the big picture.

I agree totally with what he says

The problem facing journalism and newspapers is not one of technology — it is one of behavior. People are used to free, they don’t think they need to pay for content. A solution that ignores this simple fact is destined to fail, regardless of technology, software or widgets.

His strategy?

1.All newspaper sites should require registration

2.that six month after bringing in registration sites should introduce micro-payments (pennies) for select content. This would consist of a few pennies an article.

3.that a year on all new article would require a micro payment

Ht-Adrian Monck

micropayments won’t work for online journalism-we are all media outlets now

Clay Shirky has entered the debate on micro payments (Ht-Jay Rosen)

Writing on his blog he says that micro payments won’t work for online journalism.

His reasoning?

The essential thing to understand about small payments is that users don’t like being nickel-and-dimed.

he says essentially

small payment systems don’t survive contact with online markets, because we express our hatred of small payments by switching to alternatives, whether supported by subscription or subsidy.

Secondly he reasons that

Such systems solve no problem the user has, and offer no service we want.

This is an important point as Shirky points out that the word ‘micro payment’

is a trope for desperation, entering the vernacular of a given media market only after threats to older models become visibly dire

Payment systems need to be focused on what the user wants rather than what the distributor wants

We’re not customers and we’re certainly not consumers. We’re users. We don’t consume content, we use it, and mostly what we use it for is to support our conversations with one another, because we’re media outlets now too.