Subscription News Sites: Good or Bad?
To subscibe it costs: $1.99 a week for online access, or $2.69 a week if I want to get the print edition as well (which they do not offer in my area, btw)..
I understand they have to monetize the website as newspaper is a dying format, but is this the proper way? Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
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M$7 Answers
I'm mixed about subscription news sites. On the one hand, if the site has exclusive, premium content that you cannot get anywhere else, then i think that subscription sites are more acceptable and more likely to succeed.
For example, Consumer Reports Web site has archives of all its previous reviews and testing info. You used to have to either a. subscribe or b. go to the library to get that info. It's now so easy to get to, and worth paying for (IMHO).
Another example is Cooks Illustrated Magazine. Same thing as Consumer Reports, but focuses on recipes and cooking products/gadgets.
In reverse, most newspapers, I would not pay for their content. Simply because many of them are providing the same thing in terms of big news stories.
WSJ is kinda on the cusp here. I don't read WSJ so can't say if the information they provide is really that much better than a business section in another free paper. Some people obviously think so. But some people may disagree, or go to a different source that's not quite as good, but is reputable (and free), say Bloomberg or some such.
The newspapers have decided that the online model of ad supported content doesn't work. So if ad revenue doesn't work, and people don't want to pay for content, what's a paper to do?
It's a problem, and not an easily solvable one. If we rely on the free "blogger" model, the quality of content goes down, and it's very hard to sort out the wheat from the chaff.
I think we need a lot of people coming up with interesting ideas. Innovation. Just brainstorming here, but here's some wacky ideas for you:
Co-op based publishing: The writers are the company owners. They have direct input into how the paper is run, how revenue is made, how it's spent.
Papers forming relationships with customers, instead of being this big block thing that transmits info on high. Makes customers more willing to pay for content, or pay to support the paper.
Per-piece subscription fees, cheaper fees. A "pay as you go" option. If you want to read an article, it's 10 cents per article or some such. Gives a clear idea what the public wants to read. Also link up with Paypal or some such to make it easy to pay the fee.
Local papers focusing on local content to make them special. Really get back to local news and issues so that local people can care more about the paper.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Want to clarify here.
No, $2 is not expensive by itself, but each week, in a year, that adds up to be over $100. Now, assume you have to pay a subscription fee for every newspaper you read online. That's where it could add up very quickly.
wow. what a great answer.. I would use a micro payment system and probably would have even paid .25 cents to view the article. Whats funny about this is I saw the very same topic covered on Forbes.com (for free) a few minutes ago. Same news different source.. BUT I would have paid for it earlier today, even a quarter, but that's something- if the system would have been easy and painless. I'll probably never visit the WSJ site on purpose, but they had their one shot today to get my money and missed. Oh and BTW, the article I wanted to read earlier today and would have paid for is now free in its entirety on the WSJ site..
I understand about specialized magazines. I get a couple of industry magazines and they also have content online, but it appears in print first. 20 days or so after the issue hits the newstand the info is released on the website in regular format. Before then you can read a pdf version of the magazine (complete w ads) but only if you are a subscriber..