Over 300 daily newspapers nationwide have launched paywalls on their website. Last week, the South Florida Sun Sentinel became the first daily in the region to do so. Other South Florida papers may soon follow suit.
If you read The Sun Sentinel online and don't subscribe to the paper -- by now, you may have already passed your limit of 15 free articles per month. On April 9, the paper began charging $2 a week to access content on its website. Mary Helen Olejnik is the community programs development manager for The Sun Sentinel.
"We're going to keep the number internal, but we're pleased with the response," Olejnik said.
Other South Florida papers -- including The Miami Herald -- are monitoring the paywall initiative carefully. Eric Weiss is an online editor at The Palm Beach Post.
Clay Clifton is the digital manager at The Palm Beach Post.
"They're our competitor but they're also our partner in that we share content," Clifton said. "They're also a fellow newspaper so it'll be interesting to see how a newspaper in South Florida fares under a paywall."
The Palm Beach Post has a content-sharing agreement that allows them to publish full articles from the Sun Sentinel in their newspaper. But when it comes to website, since the paywall launched, The Palm Beach Post editors have published fewer articles from The Sun Sentinel on its website. Editors there say readers don't like to be teased with two paragraphs and then be redirected to another website to read the rest of an article.
The South Florida Business Journal, charges for online content, and says it has been doing well. Editor Kevin Gale, who used to work at The Sun Sentinel, says the newspaper industry is still exploring how to make money online.
"Journalism is like any other product," Gale said. "There are very few free lunches in the world and I think this is the first step but we're only in the initial phases so we'll have to see how it works out."
Matthew Krotzky of Hollywood used to work as a reporter for The Sun Sentinel. But he says even he won't be signing up for the subscription plan. He says the paper doesn't do a good enough job covering his neighborhood.
"I covered the city of Boynton Beach and I was competing against the reporter from the Palm Beach Post," Krotzky said. "And today, Fort Lauderdale, which is right in the Sun Sentinel's backyard has one reporter and that's it."
Krotzky says he doesn't think charging for access will solve the economic problems facing newspapers. But like everyone else, he has only one option: to wait and see.
If you read The Sun Sentinel online and don't subscribe to the paper -- by now, you may have already passed your limit of 15 free articles per month. On April 9, the paper began charging $2 a week to access content on its website. Mary Helen Olejnik is the community programs development manager for The Sun Sentinel.
"We're going to keep the number internal, but we're pleased with the response," Olejnik said.
Other South Florida papers -- including The Miami Herald -- are monitoring the paywall initiative carefully. Eric Weiss is an online editor at The Palm Beach Post.
Clay Clifton is the digital manager at The Palm Beach Post.
"They're our competitor but they're also our partner in that we share content," Clifton said. "They're also a fellow newspaper so it'll be interesting to see how a newspaper in South Florida fares under a paywall."
The Palm Beach Post has a content-sharing agreement that allows them to publish full articles from the Sun Sentinel in their newspaper. But when it comes to website, since the paywall launched, The Palm Beach Post editors have published fewer articles from The Sun Sentinel on its website. Editors there say readers don't like to be teased with two paragraphs and then be redirected to another website to read the rest of an article.
The South Florida Business Journal, charges for online content, and says it has been doing well. Editor Kevin Gale, who used to work at The Sun Sentinel, says the newspaper industry is still exploring how to make money online.
"Journalism is like any other product," Gale said. "There are very few free lunches in the world and I think this is the first step but we're only in the initial phases so we'll have to see how it works out."
Matthew Krotzky of Hollywood used to work as a reporter for The Sun Sentinel. But he says even he won't be signing up for the subscription plan. He says the paper doesn't do a good enough job covering his neighborhood.
"I covered the city of Boynton Beach and I was competing against the reporter from the Palm Beach Post," Krotzky said. "And today, Fort Lauderdale, which is right in the Sun Sentinel's backyard has one reporter and that's it."
Krotzky says he doesn't think charging for access will solve the economic problems facing newspapers. But like everyone else, he has only one option: to wait and see.
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