San Francisco Chronicle May Be Next Paper to Charge for Online Content

Posted on April 5, 2011

The Bay Citizen is reporting that Heart Corporation is considering implemtning a paywall for sfgate.com, the online home of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The rumored details of the plan are that the site will not use a metered plan like the one recently established by the New York Times. Visitors will not get to read any articles from the walled off portion of the website without a subscription. The Bay Citizen says over half the stories on sfgate.com would be located behind the proposed paywall.

There is a big debate raging about online newspaper paywalls. Proponents of paywalls think they are needed in the newspaper industry if investigative journalism and newspapers are to survive. Critics are concerned that paywalls will just make things worse for the newspaper industry. They think few people will subscribe to online newspapers and the paywalls will reduce traffic and shrink ad revenues.