Study: How digital paywalls shape news coverage (DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae511)
As newspapers navigate the shifting tides of digital journalism, paywalls have emerged as both saviors of the industry and controversial gatekeepers.
A new University of Michigan study found that paywalls influence content coverage, as newspapers, on average, reduced their local news coverage by 5.1% post-paywall. The study's researchers interpreted this as a strategic shift toward more widely appealing content.
The research appears in the current issue of PNAS Nexus.
"The findings underscore the complex trade-offs inherent in paywall adoption, as newspapers balance financial sustainability with journalistic integrity," said lead author Paramveer Dhillon, U-M assistant professor of information.
As more online news sources turn to subscription models rather than relying solely on advertising revenue, concerns have arisen that newspapers might focus more on soft news-such as entertainment, lifestyle, sports and human interest-to attract subscribers.
"As advertising revenues collapse, news organizations face a critical challenge: They must generate subscription revenue through paywalls to survive, but this may fundamentally alter what news gets covered," Dhillon said.
Content that may attract these paying subscribers can often come at the expense of news that serves broader civic needs-particularly local investigative reporting that monitors city councils, tracks public spending and investigates community issues that rarely make national headlines but profoundly impact daily life, he said.
Dhillon and colleagues analyzed coverage changes in 17 major regional U.S. newspapers that implemented paywalls between 2006 and 2022. Perhaps surprisingly, many papers published less soft news after adopting paywalls, though the average decline-just 2.2%-was modest.
Some of the study's other findings:
- In smaller markets (population less than 500,000), local news coverage decreased by 12.8% post-paywall-nearly triple the average decline-suggesting that market size significantly impacts a newspaper's ability to sustain public interest journalism.
- Markets with younger demographics saw a 19.1% decrease in local coverage, but a 3.5% increase in soft news-indicating that newspapers adjust coverage based on subscriber preferences rather than civic information needs.
Overall, while paywalls offer a lifeline, their subtle reshaping of editorial priorities risks gradually degrading the media's democratic responsibilities, Dhillon said.
Collaborating on the study with Dhillon were School of Information doctoral student Anmol Panda and associate professor Libby Hemphill.
