Marin IJ Moves Behind Paywall

The Marin Independent Journal will institute a paywall next month limiting how much free content non-subscribers can access, the company confirmed in published reports.

The newspaper will move to an “All-Access” plan that will include content from the Bay Area News Group's 11 daily newspapers and 27 weeklies, the San Francisco Business Times reports.

The company hasn't announced how many free articles non-subscribers will be allowed to access.

The move goes into effect Dec. 2.

What do YOU think? Will you pay to read the IJ? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Digital First Media, the IJ's parent company, will institute the paywall at all but one of the chain's 75 daily newspapers (that would be the Salt Lake Tribune).

The move is part of a national strategy to generate revenue amid a decade-long decline in print circulation and advertising dollars, DFM CEO John Paton explained in his blog post.

“The transformational journey from print to digital is a long one. And it is all uphill,” Paton said.

“Print dollars are becoming digital dimes. But costs are still in dollars and, like most newspaper companies, we are radically reducing those costs.”

Paton earlier this year opposed instituting a paywall.

“The future for most news media companies lies in selling a variety of multi-platform products and services to advertisers and marketers.

“Marketing dollars in all forms are moving into digital. With a foot in both the past and future, companies like Digital First Media have to manage the decline of one medium while building for – and in some cases, waiting for – the new revenue streams to grow.”

By the time the plan is fully implemented, 40 percent of all major daily newspapers will be behind paywall, industry analyst Ken Doctor told DFM in an article published in the Los Angeles Daily News.

The paywall move follows the announcement earlier this month that Media News Group President and CEO William Dean Singleton will retire. MNG owns the IJ and all DFM properties.

The IJ was established in 1861 and has a 120,00 combined print/digital daily circulation according to a company overview posted on its Facebook page.

Its 2011 daily print circulation was 23,000 according to a Business Times report.