Vienna (AFP)-l'Europe troubled journal industry keeps a close eye on the results of experiments by the English to charge for content sites but is reluctant to install paywalls for fear of losing readers.
The New York Times, the Times of London and the Financial Times have all paid subscriptions for content online in the past months, but until now continental dailies have been slow to follow the not.
Although widely agreed that the future of the industry is online, the ongoing European newspaper in Vienna Congress delegates are trying to work not only if customers would be willing to pay for content, but also how.
"A paywall as in the Times of London, where everything is subject to the payment, we absolutely, but we take a glance at the New York Times," said Peter Hogenkamp, head of digital media with the Switzerland NZZ group.
Since March, NYT readers can access free of charge up to 20 items per month, but above this, they must pay - a system similar to that of the Financial Times.
However, the Times of London went further and "available exclusively by subscription", as he States on his Web site, even if the first month costs only one pound (1.12 euro, $1.67).
The editors of the New York Times said that the paper had signed up to more than 100,000 subscribers paid for NYTimes.com since it began charging for full access to the website of the journal early last month.
The Times of London, said that about 105,000 people paid read its contents in the first five months after he vomited a paywall last July.
With revenues of log shrinks across the continent, some paid content Internet is inevitable, admit the media professionals.
"If the attention more and more turned to the Internet, we must rethink the line of demarcation between the editions paper require payment and free online content," said Hogenkamp.
But a great fear is the loss of readership.
"We don't want lose readers to be the first to introduce a service paying," said AK Gard, Chief Editor of Bergen Tildende the Norway.
"It is easy to lose ground, the offer must be really good," added Joachim Tuerk, from Rhein-Zeitung the Germany, which is still to the introduction of paid content.
Delegates at the Conference, which coincides with A World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday, said that newspapers must establish how many readers are willing to pay and to develop easy to use payment systems.
Creativity is also indispensable to sell content paid Internet users spoiled with free content for the past 15 years.
"We have to try things, even if we make mistakes." But with new products, because we are not going to sell something that was previously free, "said Hogenkamp.
Portugal, Diario de Noticias de Madeira has made the big step and introduced subscriptions paid for content online in February to compensate for the decline in ad sales: and on its Web site traffic remained stablehelped by readers outside the island.
"Online subscriptions now make up 10% of the newspaper subscriptions," said the Director Ricardo Miguel Oliveira.
The solution may be in mobile phones and tablet computers.
"People are used to pay for mobile services,", said the delegate of the Group Axel Springer of the Germany.
"We must see to what extent paid services can be extended to access from a desktop computer or laptop."
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