NYTimes and Facebook link up
Jinfo Blog

By Penny Crossland

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With the New York Times' paywall just a few months away now, the paper's publishers are introducing its features to the Facebook generation. In a clever move, the NYT's publishers have made access to the paper available via Facebook, no doubt hoping to win future customers ahead of its planned metered access.

As paidcontent.org who broke the news last week comments, users who connect their accounts to Facebook will see what their friends are reading and recommending. This provides the paper with a greater opportunity to engage with potential new readers. (see Nancy Davis Kho's posting on the upcoming NYT paywall).

The NY Times in its accompanying press release comments that the new feature allows the paper to deliver "a more engaging, personalized experience on NYTimes.com".

On the other side of pond meanwhile, it seems that Rupert Murdoch's Times paywall has hit the buffers: Business Insider reports that online advertisers are unhappy with the 90 percent drop in readership since the introduction of the paywall and are abandoning the site in droves. According to the article, newspapers have more "muscle" with advertisers with their print editions than with their online editions.

Publicists too, are reporting that their clients are more reluctant to provide interviews with the Times, on the grounds that their stories will receive less coverage.

It seems that industry commentators are leaning towards a consensus that sees apps as the future of news. As Livewire reported several months ago, The Guardian has been making money from its app for a while. News International is said be working on an iPad only publication (see http://www.vivavip.com/go/e30216 on the subject), and now Mashable reports on an interview with Wikipedia's founder, in which he states that apps could be the financial saviour of news organizations. The apps models, particularly those connected to Apple's services, allow for more impulse buying, since users are able to add purchased items to their monthly bill. Does convenience count for more than content?

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