Online-only article angers print subscribers

Posted by Emily Dilling on June 25, 2009 at 12:03 PM

A Washington Post article that was only published online has left paying readers of the paper's print edition feeling angry and underserved, The New York Times reported.

The article, which recounted the unsolved murder of a Washington, D.C. lawyer, was published on the Post's online edition May 31 and June 1. Its online-only appearance has stirred controversy and debate regarding how newspapers offering both online and print editions should serve their audiences.

While no rules are set in stone, it is widely agreed that longer, investigative journalism pieces should be published in print form, as a means of encouraging readers to pay for print editions. The Post's article, which counted 7,000 words, would be considered to fit into this category.

Another tactic to encourage readers to keep their subscriptions to print editions is by taking the opposite approach of the Post and printing exclusive articles in the print copy, only to post the articles online a few days later.

Nancy Barnes, editor of the Star Tribune, told The Times her paper uses this method "so that readers get something extra for buying the paper...it's more of a reward for our readers who subscribe."

As for the Washington Post, editors say their reason for printing the article online was purely financially motivated, telling irate readers that necessary cutbacks in newsprint costs prohibited the lengthy article from appearing in the print edition.