"When Wyborcza.pl was launched back in 2008, besides its quality, one of the best things about it was that its content was freely accessible. Once the paywall was up in 2012, the publisher had to find a way to present this content differently. According to Bregula, this was the most important task w
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hen they introduced the paywall: audiences had to understand what was unique about content if they have to pay for it. This could be more reporting on local news or expanded foreign news coverage. Moreover, Gazeta Wyborzca learned that readers tend to pay if the coverage is relevant to them." (Page 12) - "Implementing a paywall at a time of severe financial pressure saved the site from closure (or reliance of foreign donors) and allowed Malaysiakini to grow into a stable, popular and important media presence. Advertising revenue only overtook subscription revenue eight years after the paywall was implemented [...] Underlying the success of this paywall is Malaysiakini’s uniqueness in providing independent news within a partially unfree media context. As such, the case of Malaysiakini’s paywall must be understood within the movements of wider political and ideological processes." (Page 24)
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"Malaysiakini, an online news platform launched in 1999 in a country of continuous and pervasive media controls, has taken advantage of a precarious space allowing comparatively free journalism on the Internet. Its success in Malaysia is two-fold: First, it has increased demand for reliable and inde
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pendent news, along with support for human rights, open government, and free expression; second, it has built a viable business model that enables it to employ about 40 reporters, publish in four languages, and expand into video products and business news." (Executive summary)
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