The Washington Post Goes National by Offering Free Digital Access to Readers of Local Newspapers

By: Joseph Lichterman | Nieman Journalism Lab

In 1980, The New York Times launched a daily national edition that, despite a significant upfront investment, turned into a position of strength; today, more than half of the Times’ print subscribers are outside New York. The Washington Post didn’t, and while its strength in the D.C. area generated big profits for a long time, it entered the digital age without the same sort of cross-country reach as its rival up I-95.

But the Post has a new twist on that old debate. The paper said Tuesday it will begin to offer free digital access to its websites and apps to subscribers of a number of local newspapers around the country in an attempt to reach a larger digital audience — and signaling that the paper is moving to position itself as a major national news brand. The Dallas Morning News, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The Toledo Blade, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will be the first papers to participate.