Newspapers drop paywalls on Irma coverage

Newspapers along the East Coast have lifted their paywalls on Hurricane Irma coverage as the Category 4 storm takes aim at the mainland United States. 

The New York Times and Washington Post both announced Friday they would be lifting their paywalls on their coverage of the extreme weather, along with The Wall Street Journal, which also appeared to have lifted the paywall on their storm-related stories. 

The @washingtonpost is now providing free digital access to coverage of Hurricane #Irma.

— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) September 8, 2017

The NYT dropped the paywall for Irma coverage: Journalism needs money to survive, but people need journalism, too. https://t.co/nyAupzdN8m

— John Schwartz (@jswatz) September 8, 2017

Florida’s major local papers, including The Miami Herald and The Orlando Sentinel, also reduced their paywalls on hurricane coverage as Floridians prepare for the Category 4 hurricane, expected to make landfall on Saturday.  

Yes. Paywall is down. Also sign up to receive the latest weather alerts right on your phone. https://t.co/lbuFHADfII

— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) September 6, 2017

Florida is bracing for impact from Irma, which has left a path of destruction and at least 20 people dead in the Caribbean. 

However, this is not the first time newspapers have dropped their paywalls for major weather events. 

{mosads}The Times, the Post, and the Journal all lowered their paywalls during last month’s coverage of Hurricane Harvey, which brought catastrophic floods to parts of Texas and Louisiana. 

The Houston Chronicle and other Texas papers also lowered their paywalls for Harvey coverage, according to Politico.

The Times also reduced its paywall for coverage of Superstorm Sandy in 2012.