Is journalism dying, or transforming?

The ancient Romans are often credited with publishing the first newspaper, Acta Diurna, in 59 BCE. The printing press was then invented in 1440, paving the way for modern-day journalism. Fast forward to the 1800s, with the Industrial Revolution in full swing, newspapers became affordable and accessible to the masses and quickly became a staple of routine daily life. And now, in the 21st century, we are witnessing their demise, or rather, their transformation into the digital space.

Today, readers prefer the ease and accessibility of online news and are shifting away from print media. This transition has thus contributed to a decline in physical sales and the death of the print newspaper. This brings the challenge of monetisation, and publications are looking at new ways to profit from their digital output to fund the deficit. Publications can no longer primarily rely on support from advertisers, so many are now implementing paywalls and subscription models.

Paywalls emerged as a way to minimise the rise of clickbait and address the limitations of an ad-based model. Paywall strategies vary from publication to publication. For instance, some use hard paywalls, offering no free content, while others set a limit on the number of free articles. As of 2025, the world’s largest English-language paywalled news publications have more than 44.7 million digital subscribers, with The New York Times recording the highest amount at 10.82 million.

They have undoubtedly been a huge success for publications like The New York Times and Financial Times; however, not everyone has been able to reap the rewards. Rather than pay a subscription, readers simply turn to alternative avenues for their news and most often, social media – a concerning trend. To combat this, The Guardian has opted for an alternative approach to generate funds, and while it is in its early days, it is proving to be successful.

The Guardian has adopted the ‘pay what you want’ pricing strategy, where it is completely up to the reader how much they wish to pay for journalism rather than setting a fixed subscription price. At the bottom of their website, The Guardian details their mission and how they rely on the support of their readers rather than a “billionaire owner”. This model is based on the idea that people will repay trust and quality, and will want to support the brand. Museums, for instance, have adopted this approach – many British museums are free to enter but request voluntary donations. A major plus is that there is no penalty for those who would not otherwise be able to afford access to the product. It’s about creating an emotional connection and relationship with the consumer rather than a pure transaction.

The Guardian has seen an increase in revenue growth in the year to March 2025 with turnover up by 6.7%

Marina Hyde, a columnist for The Guardian, said on her podcast, The Rest is Entertainment: “If you can afford it [The Guardian’s donation model] and you choose not to, then that’s a decision, and that’s on you […]. But it’s certainly a question you have to ask yourself: why do you keep using this thing for free when other people are paying for it?”

Boasting over 1.3 million recurring readers, The Guardian has seen an increase in revenue growth in the year to March 2025 with turnover up by 6.7%. Digital reader revenue, which comes from donations, membership fees, and subscriptions, grew by 20% to over £100 million – a tentative sign that perhaps a donation-based model is a way forward.

Last year saw the emergence of a new way to generate funds, which appears to resolve the issue of hiding content behind a paywall and clickbait. However, publications are now cashing in on your online privacy. Readers are forced to pay to reject cookies – the ‘consent or pay’ model. In return for ‘free content’, readers give away their personal data. Marketers use these third-party cookies to target consumers with more relevant advertisements. As awareness regarding the importance of our data and online privacy has risen, an increasing number of people are opting to reject all cookies, with 30% of Guardian users hitting ‘reject all’ in 2023.

Newspapers such as The Independent, The Times, and The Sun have all recently introduced this ‘consent or pay model’ at varying price points. Currently, The Times charges the highest price to opt out of sharing data at £6.99 a month.

Whether paywalls, donations, or ‘consent or pay’ models will prevail, it is clear that good journalism costs money, and we should endeavour to support trusted news outlets

Sara Vincent, managing director, UK at Utiq, told Press Gazette that ‘consent or pay’ models are informing users that “there is a cost to developing fact-checked, journalist-curated content” and readers should appreciate this. A banner on The Guardian’s website reads that “readers choosing to reject personalised advertising make it more difficult for us to generate revenue from online advertising” and the “more people who press ‘reject’, the less money to pay for quality reporting”.

Such a practice has not been without controversy, with many raising concerns about this model’s legality. In 2016, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was passed, giving all EU citizens, and also the UK, rights over their personal data. The law required companies to gain clear and informed consent before tracking users. Consent must be ‘freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous’. Publications and other businesses have essentially said there is a choice – either pay, be tracked, or don’t read it.

However, the bar for consent is high. Earlier this year, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data privacy regulator, looked into these models and issued guidance on how to implement them. They took a more positive outlook than the EU, finding that businesses can comply with data privacy regulations. Only time will tell if users will be willing to pay for a subscription to protect privacy, although it’s likely to be a minority.

It certainly seems that the future of journalism is online, with traditional publications fighting to stay relevant in the age of social media. Platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) are rife with misinformation and disinformation, and it is important to seek out high-quality and trusted journalism. We would once willingly pay for a print newspaper, so perhaps it was only inevitable that online news would also cost money. Whether paywalls, donations, or ‘consent or pay’ models will prevail, it is clear that good journalism costs money, and we should endeavour to support trusted news outlets.