Paying for news

[Bob_VT]

Yesterday, our local newspaper now has placed the online news into a Pay Subscription.

$2.99 (plus tax = $3.17) per week to access the news on-line

All of our servicemen stationed abroad or deployed will be cut off.

Now..... the paper is poor. The news is normally 2-3 days behind all the other news sources and the paper is VERY biased and one sided (my primary reason for eliminating my print subscription years ago)however it was a local paper.

I think it is one of the most stupid business errors I have seen in the current economy.

I can imagine that their internet "page hits" will bottom out very fast.

Needless to say...... I eliminated a bookmark on my computer.

The "claim" is that this is the way of the future to make people pay for news........ the fact is this is a road to failure!

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Paying for news

Just a thought but if a large percentage of paper version subscribers cancel out and review the newspaper on line then the newspapers income is considerably reduced. As a business if they do not generate enough income to operate then they will go under. Currently the hard copy subscribers are helping support the "free" service on line it appears.
I can see this scenario playing out with my local newspaper in the future as well. I don't like it either.
This is just one take on the subject though and I am not claiming it to be the correct one.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Paying for news

Well....the advertising is what should pay the bills on both fronts. The printed edition should be paid for by ads and inserts and the online should be paid for by on-line advertising.

Trust me..... I worked in the auto dealership industry and the amount of money spent on advertising in the local paper would more then support multiple families. Sadly, that overhead is passed along to the consumer's......

If they do not have the skill or ability to obtain advertising then maybe they would make more money owning a pet shop. Pet shops sell birds....people line their bird cages with the newsprint.

Look at facebook whose stock just recently split 5 for 1 and it is all from advertising.

I just refuse to pay $160+ to read trash and it is only the news that they want to publish.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Paying for news

I see your point, however Mrs Ken as an example likes to wade her way through all the paper flyers that come with the paper newspaper. I think the mindset would have to change by a lot of folk to go look at them on line. The advertisers may well not be willing to pay the money they spend hoping that people go on line to look at them. If they are sitting there with the newspaper you are more likely to pick them up and look.
Just my thoughts though.

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: Paying for news

Newspapers?? Who reads those anymore!

 

[smclear]

Re: Paying for news

I think this generational. My mother loves having a "real" paper. I do most of my newspaper browsing on line, but still often look at the actual print version. My nieces (I never had kids) will get ALL their news on line. I think the print versions are dying and will eventually disappear.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Paying for news

I think the print versions are dying and will eventually disappear.

And that it will cost to subscribe on line ???

 

[JB]

Re: Paying for news

Well, Bob. If the quality of the news"paper" is your complaint I agree it is a waste to "buy" the news, whether it is on paper or the net.

Local news is usually of interest to too small a community to get on TV and sometimes even radio. You have to offer exposure to large audiences to sell enough advertising to offer current events free.

The internet has revolutionized communications much to the detriment of print news and snail mail. Do you remember $.03 first class surface mail and $.06 Air Mail? IMO first class mail will be a buck within 10 years.

You can expect to be paying fees and taxes for all internet communications in the near future, too. Yeah, I hate it, too, but it is the direction we are going.

 

[smclear]

Re: Paying for news

And that it will cost to subscribe on line ???

Hard to say how that will be handled. I am sure some will charge for the service, others maybe not. If an on-line version is the only one offered, the huge cost of printing presses and the numerous personnel required to operate the presses, distribution, and maintenance would be eliminated. Seems to me that with the cost savings + advertising revenue, they could do an on-line version for free. It is being offered now for free in most areas.

 

[angus63]

Re: Paying for news

My workday is not complete without collapsing in my favorite chair when I get home, popping open a cold one, and burying my face in the local paper for 20 minutes. After that the kids and mrs start recapping the day and have my undivided attention. When I try the online version, it's not the same to me. Must be a tactile thing for me.

I am not a big fan of the paper's content either, but it's the only local game in town.:redface:

 

[i386]

Re: Paying for news

Our newspaper went through some growing pains before they finally figured out what works. Now the site is free and there's plenty of content there. If you pay for an online subscription you get access to the whole "paper" in pdf format just as it was printed. You can also pull up any old issue. It goes back pretty far. Now all they need is something worth paying for to read, but that's another discussion.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Paying for news

I am not a big fan of the paper's content either, but it's the only local game in town.:redface:

Hmmmmm Newsday I remember when I used to deliver Newsday and the Long Island Press with paper routes as a kid.

Our newspaper went through some growing pains before they finally figured out what works. Now the site is free and there's plenty of content there. If you pay for an online subscription you get access to the whole "paper" in pdf format just as it was printed. You can also pull up any old issue. It goes back pretty far. Now all they need is something worth paying for to read, but that's another discussion.

Archive searches are extra and charged per article

 

[ziggy]

Re: Paying for news

if that occurred w/my local paper. i'd just quit reading it. i do like the news too. but not if i'm gonna have to pay... maybe if i had some disposable income i'd consider it. but i don't...

nothing i hate more then being nickel and dimed to death for this/or that piece of info... someones always in my pocket (want my cc number for anytime access, BS) and i don't like it. my choice to not do it too...

 

[OldePharte]

Re: Paying for news

I hear ya. We also love the paper paper.

They complain about the circulation and with subscriptions slowly going down and in an area with 1.5million, they sell 220,000, they quit delivering out of town issues. Instead of trying to increase circulation, they are cutting staff and just printing wire stories. So sad in a city that used to have separate morning and afternoon papers, now we get a paper that is over half ads.

Our paper delivery guy gives us a free NY Times that the Bosslady has absolutely fallen in love with. We have read "local" stories in it, that covered half to a full page, that our local paper didn't even cover with a side bar!

 

[angus63]

Re: Paying for news

Hmmmmm Newsday I remember when I used to deliver Newsday and the Long Island Press with paper routes as a kid.



Archive searches are extra and charged per article

Yes, still Newsday! I delivered the Press and then Newsday in the mid-70's too!

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Paying for news

My workday is not complete without collapsing in my favorite chair when I get home, popping open a cold one, and burying my face in the local paper for 20 minutes. After that the kids and mrs start recapping the day and have my undivided attention. When I try the online version, it's not the same to me. Must be a tactile thing for me.
I am not a big fan of the paper's content either, but it's the only local game in town.:redface:

Same here. Online is great for out of town papers but nothing beats holding a real paper in your hands.

Newspapers?? Who reads those anymore!

Old farts.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Paying for news

I enjoy looking at a few on-line newspapers, but not enough to pay extra

 

[tuffshot]

Re: Paying for news

No news papers coming? argggg
What am I going to take to the bathroom? Wife won't let me take the laptop in there!

 

[Beefer]

Re: Paying for news

If they want to keep the print version alive, and have an ipaper, they should consider bumping up the price of the hard copy a dime or so, and that would include an online access account.

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Paying for news

This is happening here too with at least one NP's in SC. I don't know what they are thinking with so many news sources available