Joke Issue: 'DP' to charge for online content

To emulate The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, The Daily Pennsylvanian will begin charging readers $20 a month to read online content.

Beginning fall 2012, the pay wall will be put in place, but readers will be allowed a free one-month trial subscription before committing.

“Charging for online content is a real indicator of prestige and professionalism in the newspaper world,” College junior and DP Executive Editor Dana Tom said. “We want to be taken seriously as a news organization, and this is a great first step.”

However, a DP editor who wishes to remain anonymous due to the delicacy of the situation cited “poor readership” as one of the reasons for this change.

“Last year, our overall readership hovered around 20,000,” she said. “But according to Google Analytics, we’ve lost all but 500.”

Nonetheless, the DP editor feels the plan will be as successful as it was for the WSJ, who began charging for digital subscriptions in 2009 and has since seen increased readership.

“We’re like The Wall Street Journal. We have a captive, loyal audience — although small. If we take advantage of this, we could get back on track by 2014,” she added.

So far, Penn is the only Ivy to charge for online content. However, an anonymous source from The Harvard Crimson revealed that they plan on adopting this system in 2013.

But in an effort to “outdo those pacifist Quakers,” rates will be $30 a month.

Here at Penn, students have mixed reactions about this new expense for news.

“I still want to know about the goings-on at Penn, so I’ll probably just suck it up and subscribe,” College sophomore Rich Gold said. “And reading the paper on my iPhone between classes is preferable to reading the hard copies.”

“I never read the DP anyway,” Wharton senior Preston Williston Hughes said. “The opportunity cost of reading the DP when I could be doing finance homework is too great.”

But Engineering freshman Herbert Range has other thoughts.

“I’ve hacked whole networks before,” she said. “This is a college newspaper. For me, I’m pretty sure the DP ’s online content will still be free.”

For more information, check out this related story.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.