After a number of years offering our website content free of charge, The Diplomat has introduced a metered paywall. This is not a decision we have made lightly, but is a necessary step for us to maintain and expand the comprehensive coverage of Asia and the Pacific that our readers have come to enjoy.
Under the paywall, readers will have free access to five articles each month. From the sixth article, you will be invited to sign up for “Diplomat All-Access” for a cost of $5 a month. In addition to giving you full access to the website, “Diplomat All-Access” also gives you an annual subscription to our magazine, which has additional exclusive content, including some of our best long-form pieces each month. You will also enjoy access to the magazine’s growing archive.
Readers will also have the option of subscribing to the magazine only (without access to the archives) or buying a single issue.
In addition to introducing the paywall, we have also made changes to the magazine so that with a Diplomat account it can now be read online, on this website. In addition, a Diplomat account allows the magazine to be read on any mobile device with the Diplomat app.
Existing subscribers to the magazine can take advantage of these improvements by signing up for a Diplomat account. This can be done at no extra charge for their magazine subscription. Subscribers can also choose to upgrade to a “Diplomat All-Access” account at half price and get unfettered access to the website. Note that with the migration to the new magazine service, the Diplomat app will need to be updated.
Organizations interested in an institutional subscription should contact us at subscriptions (at) thediplomat.com.
Comments
The Diplomat is also planning in the near future to move its comments section to a forum. Comments will no longer appear at the bottom of each article, but readers instead will be able to follow a link to comment on the article at the forum. Here, comments will be moderated after the fact, eliminating the long wait that some readers have experienced getting their comments approved.
At the Diplomat forum, readers will also be able to start their own threads on any relevant topic. In addition, from time to time we will host Q&As with our authors and editors at the forum, allowing our readers to engage directly with the people behind The Diplomat.
We expect this change to comments to take place in a month or so. In the meantime, we are seeking volunteers who would like to help us moderate the forum, in exchange for a free “Diplomat All-Access” account. If you are interested in this, please contact me at editor (at) thediplomat.com.
James Pach
Editor