Where's the pay wall, Virginian-Pilot?

The days of August are nearly on us. 

Yet the Virginian-Pilot’s promised pay wall for Pilotonline.com, its online news site, is non-existent. 

We were told in May that non-print subscribers would be charged a fee to access online articles, beginning in June or July.

Several details are yet to be determined, including the monthly limit on free online articles, the subsequent charge for nonprint subscribers and the launch date. Mele said it would be in June or July.(David Mele, president and publisher of the newspaper)

Pilot bigwigs made a big deal about charging to read their quality news.

"Our work has great value," said Denis Finley, the editor of the newspaper. "We can't give it away anymore

Nonsubscribers will be allowed to view some articles each month before they are charged a fee for continued access, Mele said.

"We want people to be able to sample our content so they can see the quality and breadth of our coverage."

The article announcing this change cited figures showing that revenue from online sites is escalating. 

A talking head named Doctor on Newsonomics said newspapers that charge online readers can expect gains of at least 3 percent to 5 percent in annual circulation revenue.

But bear in mind that a 3 percent increase in revenue could mean a rise of $3.00 from $100.

In other words, percentages are an elusive and mistakenly used gauge of anything really unless they are weighed against the context of the base.

Bigger is still better. A 3 percent gain on a base of $100 million is a lot more than a 6 percent gain on a base of $1 million.

Online revenues make up a fraction of a newspaper’s total revenues. Maybe 10 percent to 15 percent. The bulk of newspaper revenue is generated by print advertising.

In vain, newspaper executives are still searching for the Holy Grail.

How can they deliver news inexpensively while delivering more news?

Mele pointed out, quite rightly, that journalism does cost money.

And the Public wants more news.

Mele said, "We need to ensure that we cover the cost of generating that journalism on multiple platforms, including the digital platform, where we are experiencing significant growth."

But hiring journalists isn't the only cost. 

You have administrators, managers in charge of managers in charge of a two-person sales force, ops people in charge of ops (?), general managers, associate managers...

Where does it end? 

 Readers of this blog suggested that before The Pilot charge fees it should start delivering more quality and quantity.

Newspapering is a business. Has been for more than a century.

But do subscribers and readers pick up the newspaper or go online to read the ads?

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