Details are sparse right now, but the Miami Herald's parent company, McClatchy Newspapers, says it plans "to roll out a metered plan" later this year.
Paywalls will control access to web and mobile content and can be bundled with print delivery subscriptions. The company will start with paywalls at five of its papers in the third quarter of this year -- which could be any day now, actually -- and at the rest of its papers in the fourth quarter.
Once that is complete, the Palm Beach Post will be the only South Florida daily without a paywall, for now.
We covered the Sun-Sentinel's switch to a metered model and
also told you some ways to get around it, if you're that kind of person.
McClatchy slipped in the announcement in its second-quarter earnings report, which noted that the Miami Herald
in particular is losing value. The report notes "accelerated
depreciation totaling $2.2 million ($1.3 million after-tax) primarily
related to relocating our Miami newspapers' operations."
Talk has been swirling about a McClatchy paywall system for some time. Media blogger Jim Romenesko posted a confidential memo
in May from company exec Anders Gyllenhaal. "We found that the impact
of placing a clear value on our content is among the most important
messages we can send," Gyllenhaal wrote in the memo.
The company will work with Steve Brill's company, Press+, which has developed paywalls for more than 300 newspapers.
More details as we have them.
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