News24 today officially announced the launch of a digital subscription service at the Future of News summit, a digital conference where industry leaders and stakeholders came together to discuss the business challenges faced by the news industry.
Readers will be able to subscribe from 8 August.
ADRIAAN BASSON | A new era for news as News24 prepares to launch digital subscriptions
The cost of subscribing will be R75 per month and will give readers access to investigative and in-depth journalism, as well as opinions, analysis and views on news, politics, sport, business and lifestyle stories.
A subscription will further include access to journalism from City Press, You, Drum and True Love magazines.
Breaking news will remain free-to-read.
"This is a historic moment for all of us at News24; something we've been dying to tell our more than 13 million unique users about since we started this journey to build a sustainable model for quality journalism almost two years ago," says News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson.
News24 will also introduce exciting new features for subscribers, such as the ability to post comments, listen to articles, share subscriber-only articles with friends and choose from a bouquet of premium newsletters.
The move is in line with a growing international trend to charge for online news content as the industry faces increasing economic pressures.
"We have invested in journalism and grew our newsroom at a dark time for media companies and journalists. With the very sad and unfortunate decline of print publications, we need to ensure that we build a sustainable future for digital publications like News24 to keep power to account and strengthen democracy," says Basson.
"I invite you to join us on this exciting journey towards creating a sustainable environment for quality digital journalism to flourish."
What do you think of this news? Do you have suggestions on how to make sure our digital subscriptions is a success? Please send us an email with your thoughts.