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ProJo going to paywall, people who don't subscribe getting pissed

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Rhody31, Oct 18, 2011.

  1. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    good for them...this seems to be the growing trend...perhaps in 5-10 years, people will actually expect to pay for their news.

    I recently signed up to get USA Today sent to my Nook...I didn't demand free access to their news. I value what they offer, so I plop down by $12 a month to have it delivered via my Nook. Seems simple enough.

    Yes, the newspaper industry is way late on this, but all we can do now is try and reverse that trend. Sure some people will get pissed, but there are always people complaining about something.
     
  2. That 1 Guy

    That 1 Guy Member

    My 30k daily went through a similar process in the summer. An older readership was all up in arms over having to pay for what was always free. It's $8 a month for online only or $.95 for a day. And that's just for locally-generated content. All AP/national stuff is free as is some other things like job ads, blogs and videos. We did a two-week free trial with our redesigned site, and since then have been ahead of projections regarding subscriptions and have actually had a few letters to the editor in support of the paywall.
     
  3. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    I wonder when it becomes worth it for a paper like the Boston Globe to beef up on Providence coverage and start to compete with a free product. Sports and reviews already overlap. Put some people on local beats. Let's say that you hire 30 people at a cost of three million could you get that much in internet ads in Rhode Island?
     
  4. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    Ahh, the joys of the Internet.

    I worked with David at The Day. ;)

    That said, since they are behind a paywell and I never get back to the old hometown, I have no idea what the paper looks like.

    I am a little surprised Southeastern Connecticut Patch doesn't edge over there, and I agree, The Day coverage is not well-rounded, though they will pop one once in a while, if you want all the local news, you need to get the Sun.

    As far as Providence goes, while they may not be as good as they once were, there's still no place better for statewide stuff on a consistent basis.

    I do remember the glory days of the late 70s and early 80s when that was a great sports department.

    But, again, not reading it lately, because I have a number of others I read regularly and because of the pay wall.
     
  5. beanpole

    beanpole Member

    The Globe is behind a paywall, too.
     
  6. beanpole

    beanpole Member

    I'm pretty sure try have to charge the same amount for the web as they do for web+print so they can count it as paid circulation. If you tell them you only want web, they're probably donating your copy of the print edition to NIE or something.
     
  7. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    Beanpole: The Globe left more copy on Boston.com than many other papers have. Some places are locked down tight, you get no local content other than blogs if you do not subscribe.
     
  8. beanpole

    beanpole Member

    Good to know. I had heard that boston.com was going to have a limited amount of breaking news, while bostonglobe.com would have the entire paper, but I've not checked it out.
     
  9. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    Excellent point.
     
  10. terrier

    terrier Well-Known Member

    I think the biggest mistake was dropping the easy signature projo.com in favor of the more cumbersome providencejournal.com.
    I find the revamped site decidedly meh, but it's bright, happy and shiny compared to the Call's site. Doesn't look much different from when I left Woonsocket seven years ago, and it was hardly state of the art then.
     
  11. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    I was always impressed they had jumped on the projo.com name so many years ago

    Billy
    Whose strongest memory of working part-time at the Call while going to URI is of watching USA-Soviet Union hockey on TV there in 1980.
     
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