Urban Milwaukee Adds Partial Paywall

Urban Milwaukee

2023 was a terrible year for the media, with more than 20,000 jobs eliminated, the highest total since 2020, when more than 30,000 jobs were lost. And 2024 began with the LA Times laying off 20% of its newsroom, Sports Illustrated laying off most of its staff and Time cutting 15% of its staff. The main cause of this is a massive loss in ad revenue over the last 20 years. Most of media ad revenue is now gobbled up by big internet companies like Google and Meta.

Urban Milwaukee has done its best to withstand these brutal market trends and we owe our success in doing this to our members. Most of the revenue that keeps us going comes from memberships, not ad sales. Your support is critical to us maintaining and growing this publication.

And we are still growing, both in terms of stories published and the number of readers, which has steadily grown, year after year. That growth in readership tells us there is a tremendous appetite for the stories we publish.

But alas, most of the new readers we add each year are paying nothing for the product. And so we have — reluctantly — instituted a partial paywall that will bar some stories on a regular basis to remind readers that good journalism is not free and must be supported by its fans.

And here’s the thing. What we charge to become a member is so low: it averages out to pennies per story. The cost is $99 per year or $9 per month, and in an average month we publish more than 300 stories. That’s a cost of just 3 cents per story. Yet if every one of our regular readers, who get our daily email blast of stories, became a member, that tiny cost per story we’re asking you to pay would allow Urban Milwaukee to continue expanding to cover far more news in Milwaukee and beyond.

Meanwhile we have continued to look for ways to add to the value of a membership. The most recent addition is a section with daily news bulletins that is only included on the websites of members. The other benefits of membership:

• The ability to read stories behind our paywall
• Completely ad-free content on our website and a configurable daily newsletter
• Free tickets to concerts, festivals, and other great events as they become available through our partners
• A 10% discount on all merchandise at Urban Milwaukee: The Store, 755 N. Milwaukee St.
• The ability to comment on articles
• A faster photo browser

But we believe the biggest benefit is that your membership assures that Urban Milwaukee can continue focusing on smart, substantive news coverage rather than clickbait. We know that you appreciate that approach. We hear that all the time from readers. And our growing readership tells us that as well.

Get the full benefits of Urban Milwaukee and make sure you have access to all the stories we publish. The cost is 3 cents per story. Don’t delay. Become a member today.

Become a member today