A concert in the park, not a nightclub behind a velvet rope.

It's a nice description Rick Edmonds makes in arguing for unfettered access to newspaper content, suggesting that the paywall concept precludes a large part of society from seeing the best of newspapers' work.

The Poynter Institute columnist suggests that democracy is ill-served by making too much newspaper content inaccessible without a fee. The moves by Wall Street Journal and others to erect paywalls might serve the elite, but doesn't serve the wider interests of journalism in serving the information interests of a community.

A paywall would not only depress traffic but the ability to serve that community, he says.