Just another brick in the (pay) wall

Apparently digital ad revenues are down so pay walls are back in fashion among the online news sites. The rush to brick up the open doors appears to be predicated on NYT's success with the tiered model. Word has it WaPo is seriously considering going to pay wall next year.

It's not that I don't want them to make money for their work but I'm guessing if everyone does it, most likely it will lead to news consumers re-evaluating the worth of their product. I agree with this guy:

What pay walls are reminding me of is that time is my most valuable (or scarce) resource, not access to content. By putting a price on their content the Globe, the Sun and everyone else with a paywall is simultaneously helping me put a “value” on my time. And that is a real service.

But that doesn’t solve any problems for newspapers.

No it doesn't. For the most part, there is little unique content anymore. Everybody is chasing after the same stories. And there are always going to be free sites that innovate and try to break through the conventional narratives. If those thrive in the wake of pay wall fatigue, maybe that's not such a bad thing.