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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Die Media Die: Paywalls Already On Way Out




The author is Sandy MacLeod, vice-president for consumer marketing and strategy at The Toronto Star.  Not hard to forsee this one.  Really, the problem for the newspaper industry is nothing is working. Maybe "giving away news" ten years ago was a really bad idea, but it isn't something that can be put back in the box.  What's the answer?  I don't know the answer.

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5 comments:

  1. Omar12:38 PM

    I find with the number of online news sources that I regularly access, the ten monthly freebies each one offers is more than enough to get by on. If I do happen to run out at one source, I just ignore it until the next round of freebies kicks in, and in the meantime, read someone else. I have never paid a subscription fee and don't plan on doing so any time soon.

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  2. bigcitylib12:54 PM

    Exactly what I do. I'm told the walls are easy to get around, but seldom feel like bothering.

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  3. Dana2:16 PM

    Right click your mouse and open an incognito window (in Chrome) or a private window (in FF).

    That's what you seldom feel like bothering ?

    The biggest part of the problem the newspapers have is that, with the exception of The Star, their content mostly sucks.

    Sloppy thinking, writing and editing. Poor comprehension of history. No understanding of ethical journalism at The Grope and Flail.

    The number of print journalists worth paying attention to (not OpEd hacks but journalists) in Canada can be collated on two hands - excluding sports journalists. Possibly without using thumbs. And they work all over the place - not in one location.

    If they all worked for one publication maybe I'd be interested.

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  4. Omar3:15 PM

    Open an incognito window? That seems like a bother. Thanks though..

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  5. Unknown4:25 PM

    In theory, I agree with you, but the practical truth is that now that the FCC in the US has declared that the Net no longer be neutral, the same will happen in Canada. Within two years, we'll all be moaning about our internet bills much the same way we moan about our cable/satellite bills. In other words, the Net as we know it is dead. By the time the Average Joe/Jane figures that out, it'll be too late.

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