The Washington Post, which once steadfastly refused to put a paywall around its content, will finally add one next week. Katharine Weymouth, publisher of the Post, told the Post, “Over the coming months, we will learn more about how everything is working, listen to reader feedback and modify our model accordingly.”
One of these future modifications could be a tightening of the paywall. Like the Post, The New York Times initially allowed non-subscribers to read 20 free articles per month when it first launched its paywall; it soon realized this was too generous and tightened the limit to 10 articles per month.
Starting on Wednesday, the Post will begin limiting readers of WashingtonPost.com to 20 free articles per month unless they purchase a subscription plan. Subscribers to the print edition will have unlimited access to the website, as will schools, government offices, and military bases. Everyone else can purchase a digital subscription for $9.99 a month. For an extra $5/month, Post-philes can get a premium package that “includes access to all of the The Post’s custom apps.” All of the Post‘s apps are free to download, so presumably, the $14.99/month plan will allow subscribers to access unlimited articles on their phones and iPads.
For now, though, reader can access a full twenty articles each month. And if for some reason you want to read more? Just buy a subscription or go to your nearest military base or governmental office. Or just see how many Washington Post articles you can read for free in the next week.
