The more established online journalism in the west gives ideas to news agencies in the east.
I haven’t encountered a news website in the Philippines which has a paywall. Mainstream newspaper websites are practically free –for-all to read. These websites compete with each other in terms of content and advertisement; they also compete to post an update as quickly as possible whenever necessary.
In other countries in South East Asia, paywalls exist, like Malaysia’s malaysiakini.com.
Still, countries in the east have some catching up to do. In terms of internet access, many rural parts of different countries have yet to have internet access (as shown in Cambodia). Same as in the urban area, many households don’t have their own online connection.
In terms of speed and cost, I would say Philippines charge more than the speed that you get. I am yet to know about other countries’. Speed can always affect your online behaviors.
On the other part of the world, America’s Wall Street Journal and New York Times are also having paywalls. It is like buying your hardcopy online. You pay for the great website layout, interface, content and exclusives. Fair enough.
It may be good to reduce printing cost but there can be no substitute for the traditional dailies that we can buy on streets. The internet reaches a whole lot more but still there are a number of people that don’t have access to it.
Where do they go updates? Print media.
Print media in both east and west remain competitive, that’s always a good sign. But the role of the internet changes everything. These paywalls from the west can potentially wipe out newspapers in the future; luckily, most news agencies especially in the east deliver news on their websites for free making the competition interesting.
Good things in life are free.
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