THE GUARDIAN: New York Times-style system of 20 free articles a month is part of push to bolster Independent's multimedia credentials
The Independent, which celebrated its 25th birthday on Friday, is to launch a paywall for non-UK readers, a top-priced iPad application and strip more than 70,000 free bulk copies from its circulation, in a strategy designed to reinforce its credentials as a premium multimedia title.
The paywall will initially target online readers from the US and Canada, and allow access to 20 articles for free a month with a charge for unlimited usage. Following the limited free access models of the New York Times and the Financial Times, north American readers will be charged at $6.99 (£4.50) a month.
About 40% to 50% of the Lebedev-owned title's traffic comes from readers outside the UK, with monthly unique users now at about 16 million. Senior executives say that there are "a couple of hundred thousand" of users in North America that have been identified as viewing more than 20 articles a month who are the initial target of the paywall strategy. » | Mark Sweney | Monday, October 10, 2011
