Health & Fitness
Paywalls coming to main Philly newspaper sites in 2013
Pay for news spreading to more sites -- but at least Philly.com, Inquirer and Daily News aren't hiding the plan.
A spokesman for the firm that owns Philly.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News has confirmed the two newspapers will launch their own websites in 2013 and that both sites will have paywalls, according to a NetNewsCheck.com report.
The confirmation comes shortly after "South Jersey's Newspaper," the in November with virtually no explanation of the process or corresponding hikes in print subscription rates to readers. (Note: Continued attempts to get a comment from the managing editor or publisher have gone unanswered.)
Philly.com had served as the online home for both the Inquirer and Daily News. Under the news plan, Philly.com will remain a free site with a focus on digital media, such as videos, along with blogs and entertainment features.
Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The NetNewsCheck.com report notes a similar split occurred last year when BostonGlobe.com launched next to Boston.com. The Globe site sits behind a paywall and features news content more closely aligned with what appeared in print, while the Boston.com site is free and features blogs, event calendars and digital-only content.
There is not a launch date set at this time, according to the report, but the intent is to make the move in the first quarter of 2013.
