I haven't been to the DT website since it started. Was my homepage for my PC, & bookmarked on my Ipad. Both have been changed to SMH, if/when SMH goes to subscription i'll stop using them aswell. There's plenty of options out there t get news for free. It's actually been a blessing in disguise, after the disgracefull article they published on John Mannah it was the excuse I needed to dump them for good.
Everyone knew it was coming, but now it's official - Fairfax following the pattern
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/med...smh-age-websites/story-e6frg996-1226658965720
Fairfax follows News in erecting paywalls on SMH, Age websites
BY:SALLY JACKSON From: The Australian June 07, 2013 12:00AM
THE long-awaited paid content model for Fairfax Media's flagship metropolitan mastheads The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age mixes the metered, "freemium" and subscriber models in a bid to generate circulation revenue from its websites and apps while limiting erosion of its online audience numbers.
Under the plan unveiled yesterday,
from July 2 readers will be allowed 30 free articles per month on the web and mobile sites before they are asked to pay, then lured with an introductory subscription offer of $1 a month.
Five regular subscription packages ranging from $15 to $44 a month will be offered covering the websites, tablet apps and mobile sites, with the masthead homepages, photo galleries and videos and some sections on the tablet apps remaining free.
Subscribers will get exclusive features, including access to archived stories and a rewards program. Print subscribers who currently get at least two newspapers delivered a week will automatically receive full digital access.
"Our approach is simple: visitors will be able to continue to enjoy our content just as they do now, with minimal disruption, and subscribers will have access to a higher level of content plus additional benefits," Fairfax's Australian Publishing Media general manager Allen Williams said. "The approach we have taken is designed to target a small portion of our high-volume visitors without greatly impacting the vast majority of our audience."
Fairfax said the SMH and The Age had combined website visitors of more than 3.7 million per month, more than 1.2 million tablet downloads and 456,000 average daily unique browsers on their mobile sites.
Fairfax began charging overseas readers for digital access in March, and Mr Williams said the company had attracted almost double the number of subscriptions expected.
The company is following the lead of rival News Limited, which is also rolling out digital subscriptions for all of its major mastheads, including Sydney's The Daily Telegraph, Melbourne's Herald Sun and Brisbane's Courier Mail.
