Mediabistro Poll: The Crowd Says Newspaper Paywalls Would Be Disaster

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a weeklong Mediabistro poll on paywalls predicted that charging for online content would spell doom for newspapers. Another 20% said paywalls wouldn’t make a meaningful difference.

In other words, 85% of the 1,682 participants apparently think News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch‘s belligerent vow to charge for online content starting next year is tantamount to publisher-assisted suicide.

Of course, Murdoch isn’t the only publisher considering a paywall — just the loudest. Newsday recently began charging non-print subscribers, and the New York Times also is mulling over a fee-based online subscription.

The specific question we asked was, “Do you think paywalls will save newspapers?” Here are the specific options offered and what percentage of the vote each got:

65% — No, in fact it’ll be the beginning of the end as readers flee to other free sources.

20% — No, it’ll generate some revenue but won’t make a meaningful difference.

12% — Yes, making readers pay will generate the revenue newspapers need to stay afloat.

3% — Other

No, I have no idea what “other” could be either. The crowd can be an enigma that way.

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