New study reveals why people pay for news and what it means for future of journalism

Slightly more than half of all U.S. adults pay for news, with roughly half of those subscribing to a newspaper, according to a study conducted by the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. With this study, the Media Insight Project has undertaken one of the largest efforts to date aimed at understanding who subscribes to news, what motivates them, and how news organizations can engage more deeply to convert consumers to subscribers. This research is critical because the future of journalism will increasingly depend on consumers paying for the news directly, as content distributors like Facebook and Google take up a greater share of digital advertising dollars.