TheMediaBriefing: The new wave of digital media CEOs taking over old media companies
Monday, 7 November 2011, 11:56
Peter Kirwan: “We’re now starting to witness a long overdue exit for [media industry] chief executives of the Baby Boom generation. … We’re also witnessing the rise of a new generation of managers who got their big breaks in the online world from…
paidContent:UK: Local Media May Have Blown Another Online Ads Opportunity
Monday, 6 December 2010, 14:06
Robert Andrews: "Through daily coupon deals, place reviews and location sharing, local services is where it’s at. That should finally mean boom-time for local newspapers … Yet look at the booming crop of next-generation local ad services and you’ll see none was devised by the operators who once had the market all to themselves. "
Journalism.co.uk: Johnston Press strikes deal with user-generated review site Qype
Friday, 27 August 2010, 15:32
"[Johnston Press] said it had concluded a deal with Qype and will use the software to power new listings on its network of local websites."
New York Times: In Britain, a Laboratory for Newsprint’s Future
Sunday, 4 April 2010, 20:46
New York Times on Johnston Press and Times paywalls: "Britain is turning into a laboratory for the future of newspapers in the digital era."
paidContent:UK: Johnston’s Local Pay Site Trial Has Been ‘A Disaster’
Thursday, 1 April 2010, 17:00
Robert Andrews: "the conclusion is clear – charging for local news online is something of a no-go. We don’t know how successful the registration or other elements of the trial were; Johnston is keeping results in-house."
Press Gazette: Johnston Press halts paywall experiment
Wednesday, 31 March 2010, 12:02
"Press Gazette understands the trial, which was originally due to run for three months, is set to come to an end next week – however two of the weeklies involved appear to have already removed digital barriers."
Holdthefrontpage.co.uk: Johnston Press paywall experiment quietly dropped
Wednesday, 31 March 2010, 11:53
"Regional publisher Johnston Press is quietly dropping its experiment in introducing paywalls to some of its local newspaper websites. … The company has told HTFP it will be making no public comment about the trial and has even refused to confirm that it is coming to an end. "
Peterborough Today: What do you think of our new website?
Saturday, 13 March 2010, 15:57
Is this the first of the redesigned Johnston Press sites? As is typical of a post introducing a redesing, there are lots of unhappy comments. Odd to have news sponsored by the local council.
Andy Dickinson: The price of transparency
Sunday, 3 January 2010, 23:49
Newspaper publishes correction – behind its paywall: "The price of transparency is £5. At least that’s what it will cost you to see the whole of this clarification at the Northumberland Gazette."
currybetdotnet: Don’t put Johnston Press on trial over their paywall experiment
Tuesday, 1 December 2009, 19:40
Martin Belam: "At the minute, Johnston Press have some sites giving away free ad-supported content, some sites have content snippets urging users to buy the paper, and some sites are charging a subscription for access. Essentially they are doing an A/B/C test of their entire business model online for three months. As someone who advocates user-testing at every stage of product development, how can I argue with that?"
BBC News: Today: Websites start charging for news
Monday, 30 November 2009, 12:56
The Today programme on the Johnston Press paywall experiment: "Emily Bell, director of digital content at the Guardian and Roger Parry, former chair of Johnston Press, discuss how the model will work."
Comment is free: Why journalism needs paywalls
Monday, 30 November 2009, 12:45
Tim Luckhurst: "Today a newspaper innovation is launched that can help the free world's news industry to recover the prosperity it first achieved under Queen Victoria. Johnston Press, Britain's most prolific newspaper publisher with 286 titles, will place the online content of six of its local titles behind paywalls." Seriously?
HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk: Regional newspaper publisher to introduce online paywalls
Thursday, 26 November 2009, 06:30
"The initiative being launched next week will restrict users of selected [Johnston Press] sites from viewing content beyond the homepage without payment of a £5 three-month subscription – the equivalent of 40p per week."
Press Gazette: The Wire: Johnston Press to introduce paywalls next week
Thursday, 26 November 2009, 06:27
Commenter on Presss Gazette neatly sums up the case against paywalls for general news: "I'll save everybody time and angst. This model was tried before by many newspapers. Here's what happened. Pay wall goes up; traffic drops like a rock. Advertisers want new cheaper ad rates for low traffic figures. Audience goes elsewhere. Management freaks. Paywall comes down. Audience still elsewhere. Advertising rates are now rock bottom. Its a dead end proposition."
