ONE of Canada's biggest news organizations announced this week that it would be putting up pay walls on some of its websites, including those of the Province and the Vancouver Sun.
To the average British Columbian, the move may not seem hugely significant, but in fact it should be of enormous interest to all of us.
After providing free content for well over a decade, the papers have joined a growing number of major dailies around the world in requiring on-line readers to pay. Like other big papers, they feel they have little choice.
With the rise of the Internet and the growing abundance of free online news, daily newspapers around the world have seen readership erode for their paper editions. It's becoming increasingly clear that the future of big-city journalism lies on the computer screen.
To survive and thrive, major print media have to find a way to make the new delivery model pay. It should matter a great deal to ordinary people that they succeed.
Without big print outlets, we would be left with sound bite-driven TV news and cash-starved state media to provide coverage of provincial and federal-level events.
In-depth coverage by a healthy news media is vital to a healthy democracy, as it allows us to hold those in power to account. Without it, electors would be all but blind to what government is doing, and the abuse of power would quickly follow.
It's possible that by charging for content, big newspapers have found part of the answer. We should hope that's the case.
