Free news gets scarcer as paywalls tighten

A woman reads The New York Times on her computer on June 15, 2016 in Washington,DC. The grim news for newspapers: digital is doing little to rescue them from their deepening woes. Reeling from weak circulation and ad revenue, the traditional newspaper world faces an ugly picture while social media and tech firms benefit from the shift to digital, a Pew Research Center study released on Wednesday found. / AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER

WASHINGTON: For those looking for free news online, the search is becoming harder. 

Tougher restrictions on online content have boosted digital paid subscriptions at many news organisations, amid a growing trend keeping content behind a “paywall.”