FT’s Barber: Almost All News Organizations Will Charge for Content

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber is still a believer that people will pay for Web content.

Speaking at a Media Standards Trust event at the British Academy Thursday night, as reported by paidContent:UK, Barber said:

How these online payment models work and how much revenue they can generate is still up in the air. But I confidently predict that within the next 12 months, almost all news organizations will be charging for content.

If they feel it’s distinctive enough…you’ve got to be different. It’s the people in the mediocre middle that are going to be the meat in the sandwich.

FT publisher Rob Grimsaw told paidContent:UK in May that the site totaled 1.3 million non-paying registrants and 110,000 paying subscribers, and the company’s publishing business was two-thirds digital.

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