Paywall
An online paywall is a method that creates a barrier to access online content that is surpassed using a paid subscription.[1] Paywalls are commonly used by news outlets to provide their content in a digital format while still maintaining a subscription model, maintaining ties to the traditional paper news outlets of the past.[2] According to a 2019 study, 69% of newspapers surveyed utilized some kind of paywall.[3]
The term paywall is also used to refer to academic and scholarly articles or journals that require a subscription or other payment to access.[4] There is debate and lack of consensus surrounding the moral and ethical soundness of paywalls.[2]
Contents
History
In the 1990's, personal computers were becoming more commonplace in the American household. Companies initially created websites where they posted articles in an attempt to be involved in the digital scene; initially these publications were free, but eventually companies realized that probability would become an issue. After first attempting to use online advertising, publishers explored alternative revenue options. The paywall was one of these innovations.[5] In 1996, The Wall Street Journal was the first national newspaper that created a paywall across the entire site.[1]
Classifications
There are various types of paywalls. The most common sub-categories are hard paywalls, soft (metered) paywalls, and freemium (Combination) paywalls. [6]
Hard
A hard paywall is the most restrictive type of paywall. Content obscured behind a hard paywall can only be accessed when a user has paid the subscription or fee. There are no free versions, and there are no free trials. A hard paywall restricts access to an entire site or service: there is no free section. There may be several tiers; each of which allow access to increasingly more content for an increasingly higher price. [1] The Times is a notable outlet that employs the hard paywall, which it implemented in 2010. [7] Amongst those who believe that paywalls are unethical, this type of paywall is considered to be the most unethical and restrictive.
Soft
Soft, or metered, paywalls allow access to some premium content while restricting the rest. A common implementation of a metered paywall is to allow access to a particular number of articles per month, and require payment to read more than this predefined number. This is a model that The Washington Post has implemented; users are allowed to view between 7 and 10 articles for free each month, and to view additional articles requires a subscription.[1]
Freemium
Freemium or Combination paywalls are a mix of free and restricted content. Sites using this model will usually offer a limited free version of their content; the premium (paid) version has additional benefits, such as higher quality or additional functionality.[7] The premium content is behind a hard paywall; this differs from a site-wide hard paywall in that in this case content is selectively restricted.
Perception
Industry
Many companies see paywalls as superior to digital advertising, which can have problems and return little profit, except for very large platforms. Especially in the era of Ad-blockers, paywalls can be an attractive option for companies to earn money. Additionally, news outlets are more independent when they implement a paywall; they don't require reliance upon advertising companies (and incentive to generate traffic to serve ads) reducing the pressure to produce "clickbait" content. [5] Alex Pareene argues that paywalls are necessary for quality, honest, solid journalism; this kind of journalism requires time and money that can't be supported without revenue that often comes from a paywall. [2]
Readers
Paywalls in Practice
News
Academia
Many academic journals and articles require payment in exchange for access.
Ethical Considerations
There is debate between if and to what extent paywalls should be used. As expressed by Stewart Brand, creator of the World Earth catalog, when remarking on the value of information:
On the one hand, information wants to be expensive, because it’s so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other. [8]
- Stewart Brand
This quote documents the dilemma: news and information producers deserve reasonable compensation for providing valuable information to the public; similarly, people deserve equitable access to information.[1] This debate is often considered when considering the ethical use of paywalls in a democratic society.
The Online Public Sphere
Pay to be Informed
The New Republic author Alex Pareene articulates the argument that subscription models such as paywalls intrinsically select an audience that is seeking high-quality content, and have the means and desire to pay for it. By extension, this excludes people who would otherwise equally benefit from this high-quality content but are unable or unwilling to pay for it. [9]
Quality
Nick Thompson, an editor at Wired, claims that paywalls make online content better. When defending the decision of Wired to introduce a soft (metered) paywall in 2018, he says that "When you create a subscription business model, your incentives change significantly."[10] He is referring to the idea that paywalls incentivize outlets to obtain the largest number of loyal readers that they can. This incentive results in higher-quality content that is unique.
Power and Open Access to Information
Globalization has accelerated information production in an interconnected world in which research is done by scholars who are more diverse. However, some argue that paywalls diminish the benefits provided by this information production. [11] Those debating the ethics of paywalls ask the question: who has the power to decide which information is obscured by a paywall? The answer, clearly, is content publishers. Those who argue against the use of paywalls cite the growing market domination of a few academic publishers, allowing them to set high prices. These barriers make it more difficult for teachers, economically-disadvantaged people, and policy-makers to access this information.[12] Paywalls limit access to a small proportion of the population, who is able to use this access to further advance their privilege. [11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Shah, S. (n.d.). Understanding the Effects of Online Paywalls on Information Access. Oregon State University.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harvey, B. (2021, January 20). Should News Sites Have Paywalls? The Prindle Post. https://www.prindlepost.org/2021/01/should-news-sites-have-paywalls/
- ↑ Simon, F., & Graves, L. (2019, May 9). Across seven countries, the average price for paywalled news is about $15.75/month. Nieman Journalism Lab [BLOG]; Newstex. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2251667383/citation/A0A2FC17C0744FF6PQ/1
- ↑ Taylor, M. (2013, January 17). Hiding your research behind a paywall is immoral. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/jan/17/open-access-publishing-science-paywall-immoral
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Ethics of News Paywalls—Center for Media Engagement—Center for Media Engagement. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://mediaengagement.org/research/the-ethics-of-news-paywalls/
- ↑ Pickard, V., & Williams, A. T. (2014). Salvation Or Folly? Digital Journalism, 2(2), 195–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2013.865967
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Rußell, R., Berger, B., Stich, L., Hess, T., & Spann, M. (2020). Monetizing Online Content: Digital Paywall Design and Configuration. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 62(3), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-020-00632-5
- ↑ Information wants to be free … and expensive. (n.d.). Fortune. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://fortune.com/2009/07/20/information-wants-to-be-free-and-expensive/
- ↑ Harvey, B. (2021, January 20). Should News Sites Have Paywalls? The Prindle Post. https://www.prindlepost.org/2021/01/should-news-sites-have-paywalls/
- ↑ Johnson, E. (2018, February 1). Paywalls make content better, Wired editor Nick Thompson says. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2018/2/1/16957324/wired-paywall-nick-thompson-magazine-advertising-subscription-peter-kafka-recode-media-podcast
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Eaves, L. E. (2021). Power and the paywall: A Black feminist reflection on the socio-spatial formations of publishing. Geoforum, 118, 207–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.04.002
- ↑ Gershenson, S., Polikoff, M. S., & Wang, R. (2020). When Paywall Goes AWOL: The Demand for Open-Access Education Research. Educational Researcher, 49(4), 254–261. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20909834
