Yelvington on paywalls and community
December 22, 2009 by John Proffitt · Leave a Comment
I recently told public broadcasters, er… I mean public service media folks, to ignore the paywall option. Don’t do it. And while I stand by that assertion generally, the invaluable Steve Yelvington has a much more nuanced take in his piece Thinking about a paywall? Read this first.
It involves this little chart, and there are lessons for those that would create both a popular general web destination and an online community, all in one. Highly recommended.
For the last 15 years I've done what comes naturally to anyone with degrees in English, earth science and education: I taught high school for a year then worked as an IT pro in healthcare, banking, consulting and government contracting (of course!). But I also spent nearly 5 years in Alaska's largest public media company, taking the traditional radio / TV / statewide news operation online and realizing traffic gains of more than 700% in just 18 months. Now I'm the Director of Digital Engagement for KETC / The Nine Network in St. Louis, focused on real and virtual community building around issues of public importance. Learn More