National Experiment

Slovakia has turn the initial nation to make a paywall that encompasses scarcely all of its principal media outlets.

Since 2 May users have been asked to pay a prosaic price of €2.90 (£2.57) that entitles them to access to all 9 headlines sites beneath the scheme.

The paywall is the brainchild of Tomas Bella, one-time editor of the country's heading broadsheet, SME.

He is right away arch senior manager of Piano Media, the Bratislava-based consultancy that will harmonise the operation.

Bella attempted to beginner a paywall during his time at SME but the plan failed.

His firm will right away manage access to SME together with the country's oldest every day Pravda, a business broadsheet, a sports every day and a weekly headlines publication amid others.

Altogether, 9 of Slovakia's major headlines organisations have taken segment in the premium-content remuneration service.

Piano will take 30% from the income of the service whilst headlines organisations will be allocated increase in line with how sufficient time visitors outlay on their site.

Fight for presence

"We wish to have liberty of information, you wish to have as many sources as probable but a few of the media cannot tarry any more with only the income from advertising," explained Bella as he summarized the motivations at the back the project.

"We would rsther than have more sources of data rsther than than reduction even if a few of them are paid."

Predictably, the plan has advance beneath glow from specific sections of the open who are not used to profitable for online media.

Two Facebook groups have already been set up in opponent to the paywall, and other organisation has shaped melancholy to sue Piano Media for breaching liberty of data laws.

The paywall model follows that of line TV, where one service provider controls access to assorted networks for a prosaic fee.

Bella believes the ease of use of this network will be the key to its success. And, is to many part, it seems that the paywall has been well received.

"After two days you have reached our goals is to entire month," he said.

Language siege

"We are proof that it's only not loyal that people won't pay is to calm mainly in countries similar to Slovakia where people are not used to profitable for things with credit cards on the web."

While the network seems to be working in Slovakia, in bigger countries similar to the UK and US it still waste a siren mental condition for publishers.

"I wouldn't be daring enough to try this in UK or USA but in tiny countries it should work," Bella acknowledged.

Slovakia has a race of only 5.7m, it is moreover the only nation in that the Slovak denunciation is zodiacally spoken. This denunciation siege creates it simpler is to marketplace to be harnessed in this way.

Bella expects that between 0.8% and 1.5% of the race will register to the service.

If the venture proves to be a success in Slovakia he hopes to spread it to other tiny countries in Europe.

Media organisations around the world have not long ago been experimenting with charging for content.

The New York Times, for example, is currently perplexing to beginner a paywall is to second time.

No skepticism they will be amid many examination this plan hurl out with interest.