Can a Paywall Stop Newspaper Subscribers From Canceling?

The Boston Globe launched a new site, and unlike at its old home at Boston.com, visitors to BostonGlobe.com will have to pay a fee to get behind the site's paywall and read the newspaper's stories. But make no mistake: This paywall is about more than making money off the web. This is about making money from old-fashioned newsprint.

How so? Designed much like the New York Times' paywall (the two papers are owned by the same parent company) access to the Globe's site costs more than a subscription to its print paper. But, and this is the big but, print subscribers get free access to all digital content. Here are the numbers: For $3.99 a week, you can get access to BostonGlobe.com. But for $3.50 a week, you can get a Sunday paper and access to the website. The New York Times' plan looks similar. For the most minimal digital access (iPad app not allowed), readers can pay $3.75. Or, you can pay the same amount, get the Sunday paper, and get complete digital access (including for your iPad), which costs $8.75 a week without a subscription. In other words, for what amounts a discount, people can get full online access and then a free printed paper.