The freeloading generation

Abstract

Young journalist Blackhurst poses the question, "Why shouldn't news be free" and comments: "Just as annual fees for credit cards disappeared almost overnight under market pressure, so a large middle swathe of the British newspaper market may be forced to dispense with a cover price over the next few decades. Perhaps we'll see a whole stable of free-sheets with different political and demographic complexions. Paid-for newspapers could still flourish in such a world, but they may well be limited to niches in the market... As the free news shock wave gains momentum, new papers, like the next London free sheet, may have to try harder by including the star-name columnists and celebrity interviews that have so far been confined to the paid-for press. Would young and budget-conscious commuters then even contemplate spending £275 pounds a year buying a daily quality paper, or £100 regularly reading an evening title? That sort of money buys, at least, a brace of return tickets for two on Easy Jet."