http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=118538
While a few select newspaper publishers may succeed with a strategy of erecting pay walls around their online content, most of these attempts will fail, according to the new 2010 Media Outlook report from Fitch Ratings.
Newspapers should find a way to cooperate and build a single pay wall. A paid version of “Hulu for newspapers” just might work. One off pay wall efforts will, in large part, fail.
Off topic (newspaper ad revenue declines):
The newspaper business has indeed suffered an unprecedented collapse over the last couple of years. According to the Newspaper Association of America, total ad revenues in the first three quarters of 2009 came to just under $19.9 billion, down 44% from $35.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2006.
