There are plenty of arguments for why a newspaper or other traditional media outlet might decide to implement a paywall — including a need for revenue to supplement declining print advertising, or a desire to form a stronger bond with its readers. But do paywalls automatically mean that you get better journalism? In other words, does a free and ad-supported model mean that the journalism you get is of lower quality, because of the “hamster wheel” effect? Dean Starkman makes that case in the Columbia Journalism Review, but his argument rests on some pretty flimsy ground. The reality is that the connection between journalistic quality and paywalls is not as concrete as he makes it seem.

In his CJR column, which is entitled “The hamster wheel vs. the quality imperative,” Starkman takes aim at Digital First Media — the newspaper chain run by John Paton, which recently petitioned the court to put its subsidiary Journal Register Co. into bankruptcy for the second time, as a way of dealing with legacy costs like printing agreements and underfunded pension plans. The first clue to where Starkman is going comes when he says Digital First’s name is a misnomer, because the journalistic practices it advocates “are now commonplace in American newsrooms,” a statement that seems like a bit of a stretch at best.

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Starkman goes on to say that the most distinctive thing about Digital First’s model isn’t the digital-first part, but rather the fact that the chain gives most of its content away for nothing (although the company actually owns a number of papers that have paywalls). Says Starkman:
“The most distinctive thing about JRC at this point, rhetoric aside, is its business model: It gives away online for free what it charges for in print. Digital subscriptions — paywalls — are not part of the mix. Its online business relies on digital ads pretty much entirely.