Washington Post managing editor Raju Narisetti's presentation on his idea of a reverse paywall or "freewall" given at Newsfoo in November, 2011

1. THE ‘WHY DON'T WE
PAY YOU' PAYWALL
@rajunarisetti

2. EVERYONE THINKS NEWSPAPERS ARE DYING

3. EVERYONE KNOWS (OR THINKS THEY
KNOW) WHY NEWSPAPERS ARE DYING

4. BUT, AMID ALL THE GLOOM & DOOM, THERE
HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE A
JOURNALIST (PERHAPS)

5. BECAUSE IT ISN’T NEWS THAT IS REALLY
BROKEN, IT IS THE NEWS BUSINESS MODEL
THAT IS IN TROUBLE

6. SINCE WE PRODUCE WHAT AUDIENCES STILL WANT TO CONSUME,
THE ANSWER MUST LIE IN MAKING THEM PAY EXTRA FOR IT.
HENCE,
THE GREAT PAYWALL RUSH

7. FOR SOME 150 YEARS, THE NEWS BUSINESS HAS
MOSTLY BEEN FUNDED BY PRINT ADS BEING SHOWN
ADJACENT TO NEWS TO CONCENTRATED, LARGE
AUDIENCES

8. JUST BECAUSE READERS ARE MOVING FROM PRINT TO
DIGITAL (AND MOBILE), WHY DO WE THINK THEY WILL
SUDDENLY PAY MORE FOR OUR INDUSTRY’S FINANCIAL
SALVATION?

9. AND WHAT IF
THE GOLDEN AGE OF (TARGETED AND CREATIVE)
DIGITAL ADVERTISING
IS YET TO COME.

10. WHAT IF
WE CAN WE HAVE OUR SUBSCRIPTION CAKE
AND EAT IT TOO?

11. SO, HOW ABOUT A
POSITIVE* METER?
*The more loyal you are to my news brand, the further you get
from having to pay that month.

12. WHAT IF
EACH READER CAN TURN A “PAYWALL” INTO A “FREEWALL”
WITH INCENTIVES FOR READERS
WHO ENGAGE MORE TO GET MORE FOR FREE.

13. HOW MIGHT IT WORK?
 It is all about your “status” and your “actions” getting
you closer to “free”.
 Instead of starting with a limit of 20 stories to read
before hitting a wall, you begin with a level of Points,
valuable digital currency, that allows you to explore
and consume a set amount of articles on the site for
free.
 Discoverer Status

14.  While each article read “consumes”
Your PostPoints some Points, at the same time, other
You are at Discoverer Status actions you take, accumulate more
Points (our Positive Meter adds up
not just down) thus allowing you to
read more content. Explorer Status
fre
e f
When you reach a certain level of
or t

activity in a month, you enter the
he month
green zone that put you in the
Trailblazer Status. The rest of the
month on the site is free for you no
Earn More Free Articles Now!
matter what you do from now on.

15. WHAT CAN ACCUMULATE VARYING
AMOUNTS OF POINTS?
 Comment on a story
Register with us
 Recommend a story to Facebook
Post a story link to Twitter
 Respond to an ad callout
Respond to comments on a story
 Subscribe to our Page on Facebook
Upload a photograph or video
 Sign up for an alert/email/newsletter
Take a poll/
quiz
 Join a PostPanel
Email a story
 Enter a code from that day’s newspaper
Download a Post
app
 Respond/post to classified ad
Sign up for CapitolDeals email
 Point out a factual error in our story
Subscribe to a MasterClass
 Buy a movie/concert/sports ticket
Subscribe to the
newspaper!

16. SO, WHY IS A FREEWALL BETTER THAN A
PAYWALL FOR READERS AND JOURNALISM?

17. MORE STORIES READ, MORE COMMENTS
MADE, MORE “USER-GENERATED CONTENT”
Means
MORE TIME SPENT ON OUR SITE
MORE ADS SERVED/SEEN (STILL THE
LARGEST SOURCE OF REVENUE FOR MEDIA
COMPANIES)

18. MORE STORIES READ, MORE COMMENTS
MADE, MORE “USER-GENERATED CONTENT”
Means
MORE DEPTH/CONTENT FOR
OTHER READERS TO DISCOVER AND
Means
CONSUME

19. IT PUTS THE CHOICE WHERE IT BELONGS—IN THE
HANDS OF OUR READERS—AND FORCES OUR
JOURNALISM AND OUR NEWSROOMS TO BE
COMPETITIVE, COMPELLING AND CAPTIVATING.

20. AND MAYBE FIXES OUR
BUSINESS MODEL….
@rajunarisetti