Daily Mail & General Trust, owner of the Daily Mail and hundreds of local newspapers across the UK, will not attempt to force its online readers to pay for access to its general news.
The Financial Times reported how Martin Clarke, publisher of Mail Online, told investors yesterday that ‘Readers will not pay to consume general news on the web.’However, mobile access and ‘niche content’could be paid for.
The FT reported:
Clarke said that while a pay-wall might make a little money, DMGT’s advertising-based strategy would make a lot. ‘Mail Online – uniquely among UK newspaper sites – is now big enough to make the advertising model pay,’he said.
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This stance was backed up by James Bromley, managing director of Mail Online, who at an alternative event yesterday urged newspaper publishers to develop new industry standard metrics to extract real value from their online audiences.
The strategy flies against the policy taken by Rupert Murdoch, who plans to charge for access to his newspaper websites, starting with The Times and Sunday Times from June.
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