Dan Kerins' Weblog

A lot has been said this week about the intention of Rupert Murdoch (and I promise not to rant about how his empire has ruined football. At all.) intends to introduce paywalls for some of the newspaper websites in his stable.

Now, ignoring the failed attempts that have gone before, there is one massive elephant in the room which means it will not work for the news sections of newspaper websites in the UK. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to say hello to the elephant-esque posterior of your favourite aunty – the BBC.

For right or wrong, Internet audiences trust the BBC and more often than not the news site as their primary source of Internet news (even though it may not be the first to report something, the most in-depth or locally focussed – me, bitter?). Seeing as we already pay for the Beeb’s website, alongside the repeats of Last of the Summer Wine and the televisual feast that is Marry, Snog, Avoid (The Frost is brilliant with POD), the BBC Trust is hardly going to turn around and demand we all cough up an extra 50p every day to get the latest football rumours.

If newspaper websites are already trailing the BBC, just imagine what will happen when they start charging for the privilege. Apart from Daily Mail readers, the British people like the Beeb. They don’t really trust newspapers – just look at any web forum up and down the country and the stories in the local organ will be greeted with some oh-so witty individual saying “Well, it is the Daily Rag – you can’t believe what you read in that, erm, rag” - even though they won’t question the same story 24 hours later when the BBC runs it.

Even in Murdoch’s own stable, can you see Sky News charging for their online news offering?

Personally, I see paywalls for entire sites as a non-starter, unless every single news site in the nation decide on the same day to start charging. In fact, I think there’s more chance of Jonathan Ross doing a weekly profanity-laced podcast for the Mail.

Now that I would pay for.