Would you subscribe?

[JackReacher]

I recently accepted a job outside the newspaper business, and I will be relocating to Northern Virginia next week. One of my first thoughts was....I need to get a subscription to the Washington Post.

So today, I ordered 26 weeks of the Post for $25; not a bad deal for someone who hasn't paid for a newspaper subscription in nearly a decade. I can live with that. The rate increases after the first 26 weeks, but chances are, I'll still pay up.

For those of you who have left the biz....did you buy a subscription to your local paper?
For those of you still in the biz....do you have a copy delivered each day whether you pay for it or not?

I know circulations are dropping all over the place, but I just can't imagine starting my day without the newspaper. I wish more people felt that way.

 

[PeteyPirate]

I live in DC too, but I read the Post online.

 

[kingcreole]

If I didn't get a free subscription to the paper I write for, I'd subscribe to a newspaper for no other reason than to get the Sunday coupons. That pays for the paper. But like you Ryan, I can't imagine a morning without a newspaper.

 

[times38]

cue the "why subscribe when they give it away for FREE WAAAAAAAAAAAAH" crowd.

 

[mustangj17]

I subscribe to a daily and two magazines.

 

[WaylonJennings]

cue the "why subscribe when they give it away for FREE WAAAAAAAAAAAAH" crowd.

And why wouldn't people think that way, smart guy?

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

cue the "why subscribe when they give it away for FREE WAAAAAAAAAAAAH" crowd.

You joke, but it's true. Especially with the recession, I think we'll see numbers drop again. I could easily see the rational, "Not only is money tight, but I can get the news for free online."

I'm not renewing my subscription, which ended last weekend, to the local paper, and I get it half price since I work there. FWIW, I'm also in that camp that believes if you work for a newspaper, you should subscribe to it. If you don't, why would you expect anyone else to buy it? That said, saving cash is more important right now.

 

[The Good Doctor]

I subscribe to a daily and two magazines.

Perfect 10 and Hustler thank you for your support.

I would subscribe to my paper, but I live in a suburb that gets a ****ty edition with little late news.

 

[playthrough]

Don't work for the local major metro but pay $5 a month for a Thurs and Sun subscription, mostly because my wife likes the Sunday pile of ads. And yes, I just read the entire sports section, e-mailed to my inbox. If they stopped that tomorrow, I'd pony up for the daily. But of course that's not happening.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

cue the "why subscribe when they give it away for FREE WAAAAAAAAAAAAH" crowd.

You joke, but it's true. Especially with the recession, I think we'll see numbers drop again. I could easily see the rational, "Not only is money tight, but I can get the news for free online."

Funny you say that. My wife is on vacation this week and she had on Regis and Kelly this morning and they had a guy who wrote a book about "being richer than you think you are" or something like that.

The fourth thing he said to do to save money each year was to . . . cancel newspaper subscriptions.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

I used to subscribe to the Post, then after another round of layoffs I called and canceled and told them exactly why. I said I could get it for free online, and besides the print edition has stuff that was online the day before, so why should I pay? I even admitted I'd pay to read it online. This was sometime last April or so.

I'm still getting it delivered to my door every day.

 

[SixToe]

There are many things to do to become more wealthy, i.e. trim the fat, and eliminating subscriptions to the newspaper, magazines or other frivolous expenditures are part of that process.

So is getting rid of cable television. Who will do that to save expenses? Not many people. They see cable as something to forget about life's problems while they're melting their brain cells watching Survivor or Dancing with the Stars. They don't see newspapers as a getaway.

I would consider subscribing but it would depend on where I lived. The Post? Definitely. Any Tribune paper? Not a chance. Podunk Rag? Doubtful.

 

[J-School Blue]

Cable TV was one of the first things I axed when I was trying to save money. I don't miss it. But, I still pay for the cable modem and can watch quite a bit online legitly.

I've recently been contemplating whether to subscribe to a paper or not, after moving back to the Phoenix area (The AZ Republic's no Post, but it's not a horrid rag).

At first, my inclination was not to. To save some extra cash, to avoid putting another subscription in Gannett's pocket, because I can "get it for free" online.

But, y'know? I miss it. I don't read the paper online. I read a few selected stories, which I don't feel I absorb nearly as well as if I went through them in print. The Internet is superior as a delivery mechanism in many ways, but at least for me there's nothing that can quite replace sitting down and going through the paper. I still skim, but I inevitably come across something in the Nation or Business or Sports section I would never seek out on my own online that makes me pause. I think you can come away from even the most mediocre daily rag basically informed and, for me, skipping around online doesn't accomplish that nearly as well or as easily.

Maybe I'm a prematurely old fart at the age of 26. Maybe I just miss the tactile feeling of newsprint in the morning. Whatever the case, I'm subscribing.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

I used to subscribe to the Post, then after another round of layoffs I called and canceled and told them exactly why. I said I could get it for free online, and besides the print edition has stuff that was online the day before, so why should I pay? I even admitted I'd pay to read it online. This was sometime last April or so.

I'm still getting it delivered to my door every day.

Interesting philosophy: Give away the print addition to drive up circulation numbers, therefore driving up ad costs.

Edit: btw, I don't have cable either, tho I do spring for cable Internet.

 

[SixToe]

I miss it. I don't read the paper online. I read a few selected stories, which I don't feel I absorb nearly as well as if I went through them in print. The Internet is superior as a delivery mechanism in many ways, but at least for me there's nothing that can quite replace sitting down and going through the paper. I still skim, but I inevitably come across something in the Nation or Business or Sports section I would never seek out on my own online that makes me pause. I think you can come away from even the most mediocre daily rag basically informed and, for me, skipping around online doesn't accomplish that nearly as well or as easily.

WFW.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I'm too aggravated with the guy who delivers our paper in my neighborhood to renew.

The f*cker kept getting off the driveway and running through the grass in front of my shotgun shack. Jackass.

I'm actually getting ready to subscribe to Gannett's hot mess outta Jackson, for maybe six months, to get a better feel for what readers here are getting from their early edition. Plus, I hate hate hate the CL's Web site since it was pulled into Mother Gannett's latest template.

 

[Joe Williams]

I don't read the paper online.

I'm having a hard enough time reading that sentence with the proper italics and bold tones in my head.

 

[J-School Blue]

Touche. My formatting enthusiasm perhaps got the better of me, as I suspect trying to verbally emphasize both within one sentence would sound like a Seinfeld joke. Another beauty of newsprint. The only things that scream at you are the heds.

 

[CM Punk]

For $2 a month, I get a paper delivered, which goes straight into the recycle bin. I proof all of sports and most of news five nights per week, so I know what's in it. I've read the stories. For the days I don't do this, I just read it online. I started this a few years ago, and I don't miss reading a paper edition. Whenever I can get out of this business, that likely won't change. People want free **** so they can buy other ****. I'm no different.

 

[BB Bobcat]

I subscribe to both of the major papers in my area, even though I'm no longer employed in the newspaper industry. Actually, I spend a lot more time reading the paper now that I'm unemployed.

Got me thinking: Maybe all the unemployment in the country is just what the newspaper industry needs!