Promotion and Resistance: The Difficulty and Resolution of Establishing News Paywall in China

Abstract

The news paywall, an access mechanism for news providers to implement pay-per-read for online news and information content originated in the U.S. news industry, is seen as an essential part of the news industry’s profitability model in the Internet era, comparable in importance to advertising. However, the development of the mechanism in the Chinese news market has yet to be satisfactory, and its promotion has been repeatedly blocked. Few scholars have comprehensively evaluated the differences in developing and promoting the new paywall in Chinese news market from political, economic, and cultural aspects. Hence, the study adopts a case study method to analyze the difficulties in developing and promoting the news paywall system in China in terms of the composition and function of the news industry, and the public's understanding and perception of the news industry, and the news industry's adopting a pay-for-content strategy. Eventually, the paper aims to provide corresponding solutions by incorporating the U.S. paywall development experience. This study argues that balancing the development of news media's functions of guiding public opinion and providing professional information services, activating the social attributes of paywalls, and clarifying charging strategy can help with the development and popularization of the news paywall in China's news market.