Pay-Per-Play Newspapers Coming Soon

Maybe I’m alone in the woods but it seems like it’s only a matter of time before newspapers – at least world-class newspapers – start charging for more of their content.

Case in point is the Financial Times, which plans to introduce a pay-per-view system for online content next summer, while exploring whether FT.com content should stay free. (The Guardian has more details on how the FT’s subscription model could evolve.)

It’s becoming obvious – at least to me – the online pendulum is swinging away from free. It may not swing all the way back to paid, but the free buffet is going to over soon because newspaper owners such as Rupert Murdoch have realized their investments aren’t viable under the current free system.

That said, not all newspapers are going to be able to charge for content, and newspapers will only be able to charge for certain content.

The newspapers that could implement pay-per-play would the FT, Wall St. Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian and Telegraph.

And the chances of fee rather than free being successful would be enhanced if they climbed on the bandwagon at the same time.

Would you pay for online newspaper content, particularly if it was columns, features and in-depth stories?