Will Pay Walls Turn Journalists into Bloggers Print
There is an interesting side effect to the idea that putting news behind "pay walls" will enable publishers to make more money on the Internet: writers see pay walls as a career limitation. As a result, and much to their collective chagrin, career journalists are proving they have more in common with the bloggers that they ever would want to admit:
"it strikes me that news sites are just big blogging sites. No blogger would want their content hidden behind a paywall, and reporters are more and more just professional bloggers." -- rfugger on Slashdot (one of the oldest and most successful technology blogs)

One thing is certain. The lines are being blurred more and more between casual and amateur online media and professional news organizations. Writers clearly understand that their future earnings are tied to the size of their audience and ability to bring readers to their publisher, online or offline.

If writers see pay walls as a career limitation, could they begin to see news organizations the way many musicians see big record companies: easily replaced by a website and a few distribution deals?

What do you think - are pay walls the answer to save traditional print media or will they turn the best writers into bloggers?