Chicago Tribune to charge for online content
The Chicago Tribune will begin charging for its online content, an editor said Wednesday, making it the third and last Chicago metro area daily newspaper to do so.
Details of the plans have not been released, but Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern discussed it Wednesday during a speech before the Niagara Foundation in Chicago, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. He told the audience the company is looking for a “creative” way” to do it, Crain’s reported.
Kern and other Tribune editors did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.
The Chicago Tribune, owned by the Tribune Company, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and recently offered buyouts to its employees. Another Tribune Company newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, began charging people to read the paper online last September.
The Daily Herald pioneered the move of charging for online journalism as well as its print edition in September 2011 with Subscriber Total Access, a program deeply discounted for Daily Herald print newspaper subscribers that offers free access to special events; iPad, iPhone and Android apps; an online edition of the Daily Herald and other content and services.
The Chicago Sun-Times followed suit in December, along with its chain of suburban newspapers, the Beacon-News (Aurora), The Courier-News (Elgin), The Herald-News (Joliet), Lake County News-Sun (Gurnee), Post-Tribune (Merrillville, Ind.) and the SouthtownStar (Chicago Heights).
The New York Times, the Dallas Morning News and The Boston Globe are among a growing number of media companies nationwide charging for digital as well as print content.
Daily Herald Chairman, Publisher and CEO Douglas K. Ray said he’s not surprised other papers have followed the Daily Herald’s lead in deciding journalism can no longer be given away for free.
“Being first has given us the strategic advantage of pointing out the unique local journalism our reporters and editors produce every day and why it has value, rather than the me-too approach,” Ray said. “As a result, thousands of Daily Herald subscribers have agreed to pay an additional $1 per week for Daily Herald content available on a variety of platforms — from email alerts to tablets and smart phones to the dailyherald.com website itself.”
By paying an additional charge and becoming members of Daily Herald Subscriber Total Access, subscribers are attending events as guests of the newspaper and receive special offers unavailable to others.
“At the heart of all this is that journalism must be supported in ways different from the past, and the Daily Herald is in an enviable position to charge for content because our suburban journalism has real value,” Ray said. “It is the reason the Daily Herald has been successful when so many others have not.”