Reuters opens up to the online world - belatedly

I am glad Reuters has finally decided to make a serious entry into the retail news market. In an age where everybody is online, it was high time to start tapping this market for revenue, not just giving bits and pieces away. I have paid my annual £40 fee to pass the new paywall on reuters.com and the Reuters app, and quite like what I find so far – more comprehensive than the hotchpotch offered before, convincing and wide-ranging.

Reuters billed this as “unlimited access to our award-winning content”. Not quite so actually, as we are never going to get the vast specialised content produced for financial markets – nor would we want to. But it is much more than before.

By still offering a small amount of free access, Reuters is in line with many other media. Some are more generous, but others are tighter, granting no more than headlines and a sniff at the first para for free.

In charging only £40 per year, Reuters seems to betray that it is coming late to the retail online market. Media such as the Financial Times and the Economist have already built huge worldwide followings while charging much more.  

I subscribe to both, and relish their global reach and intelligent analysis. I have grown to trust a certain number of their news analysts, who help me understand a confusing world.

Reuters has a hill to climb to attract such loyalty. But good luck to my former employer. If my subscription starts going up, I will realise you are on your way – but take your time.   ■