Reuters plans to put many articles behind a paywall

It will become one of the last free news services to adopt a subscription business model - a sign of how much the news industry has shifted away from relying on advertising.

The plan, outlined to staff last month, envisions putting all articles from such specific coverage areas as energy, sustainability and its opinion content Breaking Views behind a paywall by next February.

Bloomberg put its stories behind a paywall in 2018 and most major newspapers and magazines have adopted paywalls. The New York Times had four million digital subscribers at 30 March.

Reuters also told staff it was going to redesign its homepage to better highlight digital advertising. The company further stated it would no longer rely on outside ad tech companies to provide data to target people on the site.

Many companies like Apple and Google have been cracking down on ad targeting that relies on outside providers. A Reuters executive said its move to only use its own data for targeting was in keeping with those restrictions. ■