FT chief: Newspapers should charge for online content

Financial Times chief executive John Ridding believes newspapers should start charging for online content to ensure the future of quality journalism.

Speaking to MediaGuardian.co.uk, Ridding said: “I fundamentally believe readers are willing to pay for quality journalism.

“One of the worries for the industry in general is kind of a cultural expectation that news information should be free and we would challenge that because we believe quality journalism requires investment and investment requires revenues.”

He said that there is not a “on-size-fits-all” solution to charging for content, adding that the FT considers micropayments something that could be introduced alongside its current subscription model.

“It’s not an easy set of decisions and calculations over how much to charge and what to charge for… But publishers need to have confidence in the quality of what they produce. They don’t have to have a doctrinal approach that all content has to be free,” he said.

Ridding’s comments follow research from the Association of Online Publishers which found that 70% of publishers are thinking about charging for online content in the near future.

Around 33% of those publishers intend to use a micro-payment system to charge online users, it added.