Paywalls not enough to save newspapers: Godfrey

Newspapers have what it takes to survive well into the future, but their survival is going to rely on finding increasingly new and innovative ways to monetize their content -and not just putting up pay walls. That was the message from Paul Godfrey,(pictured) chief executive officer of Postmedia Network Inc., who spoke at the Audit Bureau of Circulation's Media in Transformation symposium in Toronto yesterday.
He said everyone is exploring paywalls. But he stressed that innovation was important in monetizing the content of newspapers.
He gave an example where a newspaper might have a restaurant review section, and allow other users to comment or submit their own reviews. In order to monetize the content, the newspaper could charge restaurant owners to post their own submissions
about their business, or even post their menus.
"Restaurateurs don't traditionally advertise in newspapers, it's just too expensive for them," he said. "But something like that gives them an opportunity to be able to use our platform."