A few days ago I clicked onto the Times website to retrieve a digital copy of an article that I had spotted in the paper that morning. Unfortunately for me, the message requesting payment appeared. We all knew this was going to happen, as The Times had announced this back in March and is the first national paper to charge for online content.

However, if others are thinking of doing the same, it may be worth considering results from a recent YouGov survey. The report reveals that 60% are willing to pay for a quality newspaper and only 2% were prepared to pay for the same content online.  So, how much of a gamble is it to charge for your online content when readers know they can get similar content elsewhere for free ?

We’ll be watching closely to see how The Times gets on and if other major national papers will follow suit.

This post was written by Charlotte.