At the risk of getting self-referential, this was certainly a week for paid content, the business model. After months of speculation that online newspapers could begin to charge, News Corp (NYSE: NWS) and Guardian Media Group confirmed they were at least examining such options. We’ll wait to see how far they get on that, but here’s how the story played out for us over the last week…
— May 5: @ FIPP: GMG, BBCWW Hopeful On Charging For Content
— May 6: Report: Murdoch Planning News Corp-Wide Paid Content Program
— May 7: News Corp will charge for newspaper websites, says Rupert Murdoch (Q309 earnings & transcript)
— May 7: Feature: Why Raising The Pay Wall May Be An Impossible Dream
— May 10: Interview: Rob Grimshaw, Publisher, FT.com: Newspapers Must Add Paid Content
— May 11: Our MediaGuardian op-ed: Free ride far from over
— May 11: American Public Media’s Future Tense: Radio discussion with Robert and host Jon Gordon
— May 12: Research: Actually, Readers Would Pay For Online News
— May 13: BBC Radio 4: Discussion with Robert and FT.com CEO John Ridding