Yes, some people will pay you for your news — a really, really small number of people

As advertising revenue in the traditional media industry continues to decline, more and more newspapers and other publishers are putting up paywalls of various kinds. But veteran media executive and analyst Alan “Newsosaur” Mutter has some sobering news: while some newspapers like the New York Times are reaching a substantial number of readers with their metered plan, most other newspaper publishers are likely only going to get a tiny fraction of their readers to pay.

Take Gannett, for example. The newspaper chain is the largest newspaper publisher in the US as measured by circulation, with more than 81 daily papers, and it has been betting heavily on paywalls to drive additional revenue at its various properties. So after two years or so of trying to push its paywall strategy, how many of Gannett’s newspaper readers have been convinced to sign up for digital access? According to Mutter, that number is a little over 2 percent. One possible solution to this problem, as news industry analyst Ken Doctor has pointed out, is to stop trying to sell just access to the news and think of other things you could sell — such as access to your journalists on special topics, events and other types of content.