The end of free news: implications for travel
You could be forgiven for thinking that yesterday’s post on Rupert Murdoch’s plans to end the era of free news had nothing to do with travel. It’s a fair cop. But I also think it has implications for travel writing and travel content on newspaper websites.
If newspapers successfully get readers to pay for online content, should travel content also be charged for?
Will people pay for travel content?
Darren Cronian from the Travel Rants blog recently kicked off a fascinating debate on whether people would pay for travel content. My personal belief is that they will if they trust the source and know the content is going to be very good. Others will disagree.
Investment in travel sites
But what about newspapers? The likes of the Guardian and The Times have invested significant amounts of time and money in organising their travel sites. I think the design of both is excellent, even if I think the content can often be dry, dull and humourless. These sites (and those of other newspapers) have built up a significant archive of readily accessible travel content. Should that content be going behind a pay wall? Should it be for subscribers only?
Pay wall material
Personally, I think attempting such a scheme would be madness. As I tried to explain yesterday, I suspect it’s possible to successfully put strong, unique material behind a pay wall. Interviews, exclusives, in-depth analysis – that is the sort of thing that genuinely differentiates one publication from another.
Interchangeable travel content
As much as travel writers and editors would like to believe it, travel content does not fall into this category. If a reader can’t get the information they want from Site X, there are plenty of other sites they can get it from. This is especially true in a world where newspaper travel content tends to be pretty interchangeable.
High click-through rate on travel adverts
There are other reasons why newspapers should keep their travel content free, though. The first is that it is a money maker – or at least it should be. Travel adverts have a high click-through rate – and thus should ensure healthy earnings on any site getting good traffic to its travel pages.
Attracting new readers
The second is the potential for attracting new readers. It’s all down to the way that people look for travel content – or rather, travel information. Very few will go to Newspaper Site X then read through the travel content presented. They are more likely to come across it through searching for something specific. Someone wanting to find out about, say, a new attraction in Bucharest, will blunder across an article on that attraction. They may never even have heard of Newspaper Site X.
Potential subscribers
But once they’ve read that article, they do know about Newspaper Site X. They might mooch around and look at some of the other content. If they like that, then that person is a potential customer – someone who might subscribe to other content from the newspaper. In this respect, travel is a great net for catching new readers.
More unique travel content
I believe newspaper websites would be very unwise to charge for their travel content. They’re far better off ensuring that the travel content has a unique voice that reflects the rest of the paper. And that means veering away from the dull, largely generic formula that most are currently adhering to.
Tags: Guardian, Murdoch, newspaper, online travel, paid content, Times, Travel Writing
Another great post, David – thanks. And an interesting idea. The trouble is that newspapers’ travel content is, on the whole, pretty woeful: Top 20 Things to Do Before You Die, Best 5 Luxury Spas in China, My Favourite Travel Tips, 10 Great Days Out With Your Charming Family…
Any glance at the ‘Most Popular’ hits show that most punters click on the fluff rather than the long-form feature articles. But it’s the long-form features that showcase the newspaper’s voice and outlook and which, in your scenario, might draw people in to subscribe to paid content.
Why would editors commission more features, as hooks to draw in subscribers, when traffic results show that most readers would rather click on Top 10 Hidden Gems In Verdant Hideaways?
I have to put my hands up and say I write a lot of those top ten lists (a lot of my work is for websites). There’s a place for itm but it’s definitely overdone in the search of clicks.
My problem is with the pages that are often filled with bland, humourless and often pompous content about spas, luxury hotels and charming getaways in charming villas with charming children. I think it’s vastly unrepresentative of the readership, and makes the travel pages imminently skippable. Is it too much to ask that someone tells me a good story in an engaging manner?
If readers want Top Ten lists, and results from the stats for the online stuff I write show that they do, then who’s to say they ought to be reading lengthy travel essays of the kind we’d prefer to be writing? It’s sad, and I really miss the time not long ago when I was writing 1500 hopefully evocative words for places like Time Out and the Independent on Sunday. There are far too few outlets for that kind of writing these days. It does disappoint me. But if people Google top ten this and that in far greater numbers, then that’s what you need to supply if you’re going to make any money from a travel website – and I speak as both a writer and a (very small) website publisher.