Should we pay for our news?

Google is pitching an idea to newspapers

As the newspaper industry struggles to keep afloat, there is a continuing debate over whether or not we should pay for online content. We are accustomed to finding news on the Internet for free, so this idea doesn’t seem fair even though we’ve paid for newspaper subscriptions for many years.

In the article, “Google developing a micropayment platform and pitching newspapers: ‘Open’ need not mean free’” by Zachary M. Seward, Seward explains that the Google proposal is in response to the Newspaper Association of America’s request for ideas. The Google platform is that people can access news by purchasing a subscription. The method for paying would be an extension of “Google checkout.”

Seward says that transaction costs are a problem with micropayment plans that are currently being considered by the newspaper industry. “Google checkout” would take care of this problem, but Google would gain a percentage of the revenue from the subscription sales. As Seward says, the newspaper industry might not be thrilled with the idea since its debatable if Google takes in revenue from news already.

How is this going to affect selling classified ads for the paper? Well, if the industry can find a way to make a profit off of Internet advertising, charging for subscriptions might be the answer. This will work if the subscriptions bring in more readers to help sell more expensive advertisements. But, in the mean time, a reader of the printed newspaper is going to bring in more money than the Internet browser.