Presstime, the magazine of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), is reporting in its January 2009 edition that several free distribution newspapers across the nation are converting to paid circulation.

In an article entitled “Free publications turn to paid model,” by R.S. Pollack, the publisher of South Carolina’s Bluffton Today, said his newspaper started out more than three years ago as a free seven-day newspaper, but he found the plan to rely solely on advertising revenue was not viable.

The article states the newspaper, which distributed 17,000 copies daily, found itself squeezed with declining ad revenue and increasing newsprint cost, forcing it to either cut staff or convert to paid.

Anderson said he expects circulation to drop by more than half, to as little as 7,000 copies, with the change.

Bluffton Today is not the only free circulation paper to have made that choice, according to the article. “A group of community publications — The Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, a property of Lee Enterprises Inc., in Davenport, Iowa, that produces several weeklies serving St. Louis and surrounding areas — announced in October its move from free to paid delivery,” the article states.

Their decisions are ones similar to that being faced by free distribution papers all across the country.

“Most newspapers realize that a larger proportion of revenue is going to come from circulation,” says John Murry, NAA vice president of audience metrics, the Presstime article states.

The story quoted Bluffton Today’s Anderson as saying the change also will force the newspaper to raise the bar on quality customer service. “One of the things we heard from readers was ‘you’d better not deliver me a wet paper anymore,’” Anderson says.