In a move that’s sure to shift the media landscape in Vermont, the state’s largest daily newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, announced Thursday that it would start charging readers for online content later this year.

The Free Press’ parent company, Gannett, announced at an investor meeting Wednesday that all 80 of its community newspapers — but not its flagship property, USA Today — will limit readers’ access to between five and 15 articles per month, unless they purchase an online or print subscription.

“It’s a decision companywide, but you know it’s time we begin to charge for our content online,” Free Press publisher Jim Fogler said Thursday. “We’ve been giving it away for free. We should have done this a while ago.”

The pay wall is part of a “Triple Crown” of changes coming to 191 College Street, according to a company press release. The paper is rebuilding its 45-year-old printing press to the tune of $2.4 million, and it is shifting from a broadsheet format to a narrower, tabloid format. Fogler said he expects the new subscription model will launch when the press work is scheduled for completion this June.

“We’ve made a $2.4 million commitment to our community,” Fogler said. “We’re not going anywhere.

In an effort to bolster its online offerings, the Free Press purchased 18 iPhones for its reporters last week. Fogler hopes to turn Free Press reporters into “mobile journalists” — or “Mo-Jos,” as he calls them. At the same time, employees each have been forced to take one-week, unpaid furloughs this quarter, as they did last year.

“I will tell you, I’d much rather take a furlough, including myself, than to go through a round of layoffs,” Fogler said.

This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2012.

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

11 replies on “As Free Press Adopts Pay Wall, Vermont Media Landscape Shifts”

  2. The Burlington Enquirer website has gone from terrible to worse.  The sensationalistic journalism is pathetic as is and the print edition is barely enough newspaper to start a wood fire.  It’s a joke.  This is the nail in the coffin… 2.4 Million upgrades to the building?  Maybe for the new tenant.  If it weren’t for the smaller communities that have no paper they would be done already and good riddance.

  3. The point that they seem to miss is not that they have been “giving it away”, their circulation has been declining because the product they offer isn’t worth taking even when it is free.

  5. The Free Press’ web content is far superior to the Rutland Herald/Times Argus. More of it, and more timely posting. It’s a sensible move for them; you can’t keep undercutting the value of the print product by giving away the digital side…

  6. The print content isn’t worth paying for and neither is the web content.  At least by giving it away some people actually visited the site which generated revenue through on-site advertising.  By charging few if any people will pay for it, on-site advertising declines and the print product remains worthless.  The BFP is already financially challenged, this is the beginning of the end for them and the perfect opp for someone else to create a halfway decent local news outlet and bury the BFP and their ad nausea whining about their right to information.

  7. BFP articles are uniformly shallow and abridged. You’d think one of the advantages of being online is that you can go more indepth and use at least a high school level vocabulary. Instead the online stuff is a rehash of their fouth grade friendly print product.

  8. For someone like me who no longer lives in VT, but wants to catch up on what’s happening in the towns I’ve lived and worked in, I would want to be reading at least 3-4 newspapers’ articles. Would I subscribe to all 3-4, probably not. Is there some sort of system like with academic journals. To perhaps pay for a subscription to multiple papers for a discounted price… kind of a clearinghouse of articles and newspapers for those of us that don’t want to just read one newspaper? Because if there isn’t- maybe there should be…great business idea for someone savvy with that. And if it exists, then I just don’t know about it.

  10. The BFPhas lost its way! It is not  a Vermont nws-paper anymore! It ias unprincipaled and focusesmore on blocking its commenters than being a newspaper. It is Vermonts vey own vanity fair

  11. The BFPhas lost its way! It is not  a Vermont news-paper anymore! It has become unprincipaled and focuses more on blocking its commenters for saying comments that are fiscaly prudent than being a newspaper. It is Vermonts vey own vanity fair-The leadership and IT managment have no interst in a platform to protect everyones 1st amendment rights-only theres as a 1st amendment right to publish a newspaper. There is absolutelyno functional appeals process. It has abandon its responsibilities to its right to publish that is freedomof the press.

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