London business newspaper City A.M. could introduce paywalls after being sold, the company’s managing director has hinted.
Having been put up for sale on Monday, co-founder and 25% stakeholder Lawson Muncaster said the free newspaper could become data-lead and charge for specific topics in the future.
“Now we wouldn’t just put everything behind a subscription,” he said, but “things with specific audiences” could become paid-for services.
These may include City A.M.’s crypto and environmental, social and governance (ESG) sections, Muncaster suggested, adding he wanted to be involved after the sale.
City A.M. is the second large newspaper to be put up for sale in the UK in less than a month, after the Telegraph was seized and put up for auction over unpaid loans in June.
Muncaster explained that City A.M.’s “impressive corporate advertising” had declined since the pandemic prompted a reduction in commuters.
“Any buyer would need a belief and vision for the brand as an online use-case,” he added, with “two or three” potential buyers having enquired over the paper so far.