Newspapers Enters A New Phase But I Have A Question?
NewsPapers and Pay Content
Please hear me, I still believe this is a capitalistic country and if you produce “it,” you have every right to charge for the sweat of your labor. But it’s extremely difficult when you first give it away to later start charging especially after years of giving it away under an advertising model. Look at the Wall Street Journal, they made pay online subscription a part of their model from the beginning and no one complained, if you wanted the WSJ it cost you – period.
I have a question, if I pay for content am I not entitled to receive it un-encumbered without advertising? Here are some interesting examples of content I pay for and receive without commercial interruption: songs, music, videos, movies and games but if I want it for less I get advertising, if I choose to pay more I get it without hassle and annoyance of ads.
The New York Times is jumping or maybe edging in like an old man into the cold ocean into a fee based publishing model after years of giving it away. I’m wonder out loud if this is going to work or is the newspaper business driving down a highway they cannot exit? Are they doing it without thoughtfulness or proceeding, hoping it all works out?
From the New York Magazine – By: Gabriel Sherman - May 14, 2010
New York Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. appears close to announcing that the paper will begin charging for access to its website, according to people familiar with internal deliberations. After a year of sometimes fraught debate inside the paper, the choice for some time has been between a Wall Street Journal-type pay wall and the metered system adopted by the Financial Times, in which readers can sample a certain number of free articles before being asked to subscribe. The Timesseems to have settled on the metered system.
One personal friend of Sulzberger said a final decision could come within days, and a senior newsroom source agreed, adding that the plan could be announced in a matter of weeks. (Apple’s tablet computer is rumored to launch on January 27, and sources speculate that Sulzberger will strike a content partnership for the new device, which could dovetail with the paid strategy.) It will likely be months before the Times actually begins to charge for content, perhaps sometime this spring. Executive Editor Bill Keller declined to comment. Times spokesperson Diane McNulty said: “We’ll announce a decision when we believe that we have crafted the best possible business approach. No details till then.”
I believe the newspaper publishing business is on a crash course with failure unless some smart and cunning business person changes directions rapidly and with ingenuity.
Stella says, I love the feel of traditional newspapers and the incredible content they deliver but I hate the business model and I fear it’s regrettably dying a painful death.
