What Magazine Would You Pay for Online?

As the charge-for-online content debate continues, Morgan Passi from the Ryerson Review of Journalism polls a bunch of magazine insiders' picks for which mags they would pay for online. Here are some highlights from the story:

Stacey May Fowles, publisher, Shameless and circulation manager, The Walrus: None

"I don’t think I’d pay for anything online. I want to pay for something I can hold in my hands. I think digital editions are a terrible, terrible idea."

David Hayes, freelance writer: The New Yorker, Toronto Life, New York Times Magazine and Mojo.

"I’m accustomed to everything being free online. Most magazines are free—not all, but enough that you don’t have to pay for them."

D.B. Scott, consultant and blogger, Canadian Magazines: Among others ... Toronto Life, Harper’s, The Atlantic and Geist (maybe)

"I would be more likely to pay for a magazine if I believed that the magazine was getting the majority of its revenue from its readers. And I think that the business model based on advertisers driving magazines is probably broken—and more or less broken for good. We’ve spent four generations convincing people that a magazine is worth no more than a high-end greeting card. That’s got to stop."

Marco Ursi, editor, MastheadOnline: None

"I know everyone wants to start charging for content, but Masthead tried it and it failed. I think it’s a stupid idea. You charge for print, you don’t charge for the web."

Read the full article here.