Economist Tinkers With New Economy, Experiments With New 'Pay Wall'

The Economist, a poster child for a paid content model online, this morning announced plans to begin experimenting with a new Web site pay wall beginning Oct. 13th. The existing pay wall, which allows non-subscribers to the magazine Web access to editorial published within the last 12 months free of charge, will now apply to all content over 90 days old.

In addition, "This week's print edition (http://www.economist.com/printedition/)" - the section of The Economist's website which allows users to browse online the current edition of the magazine - will be available to subscribers only.

"The Economist brand has innovated and expanded online, moving beyond making the magazine available via the internet to become a hub for intelligent discussion and debate," stated Ben Edwards, publisher of The Economist's Web site. "Our intention is to continue to develop intelligent discussion as a free, advertising-supported experience, but to charge for the weekly magazine online.

1 comment about "Economist Tinkers With New Economy, Experiments With New 'Pay Wall'".
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  1. Kevin Horne from Verizon, October 6, 2009 at 8:46 a.m.

    The old comic Stephen (sp?) Wright would have fun with this one: "If they make you pay for the old stuff but give away the new stuff, why do they call it 'news' ?" The business models for online TV seem to value recency over archives. Who will turn out to have picked the right model?

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