'Tis the season for surveys and anyone who fancies themself a futurologist may wish to take a gander at two results highlighted by The Guardian's digital blog and see if they saw these ones coming.Both make for depressing reading for those at the vanguard of online journalism (Rupert Murdoch may especially want to look away now).
According to the first survey, conducted by Ipsos, 63% of 501 online adults said they would prefer to access the printed copy of their chosen newspaper – while only 11% would choose to access it digitally.
Of this 11%, most said they would prefer to pay a one-time charge for a mobile app, while 3% of those surveyed said they would opt for a monthly online subscription. Daily subscription charges, or per-article fees were not popular.
Unsurprisingly, reports The Guardian, just over half (51%) of the 15- to 50-year-olds surveyed in May said the biggest barrier to accessing paid-for news online is a reluctance to pay – 31% said they would not pay while it is available elsewhere online for free.
Similarly, the story flags a YouGov survey of 2,160 UK adults, also released today, which found that 60% of adults think it is worth paying for a "good newspaper" with a whopping 83% saying they would refuse to pay for online content.
It doesn't bode well for those umming and ahhing over paywalls. The question is, will the small fraction who will pay for news content be enough to turn the fortunes of struggling media outlets?
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