The revenue model that has sustained the newspaper industry for centuries no longer works in the digital age, but another age-old concept with some modern adaptations could be the answer to profitability, says Paramveer Dhillon, assistant professor at the School of Information.
As newspaper and other similar content has gone digital over recent years, publishers have tried several funding models to strike the right balance between advertising, subscriptions and, in some cases, free content to lure readers. Dhillon and Sinan Aral from MIT conducted an in-depth study of the current paywall design at a top U.S. newspaper. They say the results show it is time to move away from the status quo.
