NPR CEO Vivian Schiller: Newspapers Must Keep Content Free

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For Vivian Schiller, CEO and president at NPR and the former head of NYTimes.com, the ongoing debate about free vs. subscription for the newspaper industry is clear for her: Free is the way to go. 

Not only is there more revenue to be made through advertising, putting up a subscription wall will drive consumer to drive traffic to "lesser quality news content that is free," she told me in the interview.  She also speaks about the decision to "ungate" the New York Times Web site.

This is the first of a series of interviews conducted I conducted in her Washington offices at NPR. 

For more on her plans for NPR, check out this Q&A with her posted today on Mediabistro. 

Journal Sees More Subscription Dollars for Niches

Meanwhile over the WSJ.com, Alan Murray makes a case for more paid content on the site he manages.  He says that sites need to be mixed between free and paid.  He says that niche content can charge more. The video and transcript is up on Nieman Journalism Lab.

-- Andy Plesser, Executive Producer