The last free year of the TCB?
By Matt Artz
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 11:05 pm in Uncategorized.
The East Bay Express has this story out today about Bay Area newspapers and their move away from free online content. The pay-wall could be coming to Fremont next year.
Surely TCB readers will pay top dollar to stay informed about which Fremont McDonald’s are open and which are undergoing renovation.
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March 3rd, 2010 at 6:48 am
yeah, sure.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:00 am
Newspapers, I mean the hold-in-your-hand, hear the paper crinkle newspapers, do not require batteries, have no cord, are truly wireless and never have a bad connection – other than the person reading it.
I can line the bird cage with it, use it as wipe to clean windows, and if you’re really down and out can be stuffed inside your clothes as another layer of protection against the cold.
Try doing that with online content.
First there was hot type, then cold type, and now?
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:57 am
Sadly, with subscriptions dropping (I’m down to just 2 papers a day) there is no way to pay for professional journalists so charging for online content (e.g. a ‘subscription’) is the only way for ‘papers’ to run. I don’t actually care if I pay for delivery or pay for online access – as long as the content is of high quality, factual and honest.
I hope this doesn’t go the way of cable TV. Remember when we paid for cable and they promised no commercials? No we pay for cable and there are more commercials than ever!
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:08 am
Matt,
Put up the pay wall for the Argus with a decent web site. We’ll pay if it’s reasonable. The paper paper we get isn’t necessary.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:15 am
I’ve been curious about how this would work, particularly in regard to aggregator sites. What would keep one person from having an on-line subscription for several news outlets and copying the stories to their own free site where anyyone could read them? Wouldn’t even have to be a straight word-for-word copy – just a summary of the information would do.
If news outlets think that they’re losing money now on hard-copy editions, wait until they start trying to shake down people for on-line content. The ingenuity of the public can be pretty amazing.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:08 am
Speaking of on-line publications. They too can have major bloopers. Check out this “copy” of the New York Times and the caption under the photo.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/03/nyt-caption-error-funnies_n_483865.html
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I love the local content, and I definitely want you guys to keep your gigs, but if The ArguCoCoTribune expects to charge money for access, the site(s) will need to be brought out of the mid 90′s both functionally and graphically.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I’m about ready to write my check for $159.49 for my renewal subscription to the Argus. I sure hope this will allow me access to InsideBayArea online site.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Voice, pay as you go. MediaNews Group is toiling with bankruptcy.
March 6th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I’m sorry to read this but speaking only for myself the reason I stopped taking the Argus last fall was because there wasn’t much news in it any more. Now for the first time in my life I no longer have a daily newspaper at my front door every morning and I’ve found I don’t miss it. As for the blog,well,if a pay wall go’s up then its over. I guess then I’ll be getting my local news somewhere else and I’ll just bet someone will figure out how to make it pay.