Nothing like the smell of burning MSM in the morning...smells like victory!
Posted on 07/10/2009 7:32:24 AM PDT by AIM Freeper
The New York Times has sent a survey to its print subscribers asking them how much they would pay for access to its website.
From Bloomberg
New York Times Co. said in a survey of print subscribers that it’s considering a $5 monthly fee for access to its namesake newspaper’s Web site.
Times Co. also asked whether subscribers would be willing to pay a discounted fee of $2.50 a month for access to the site, in the poll confirmed today by Catherine Mathis, a company spokeswoman. Nytimes.com, the most visited among newspapers’ sites, is currently free.
Times Co. is contemplating additional sources of revenue as marketers slow spending on the Internet. Ad sales at the publisher’s sites, also including about.com and boston.com, fell 8 percent and 3.5 percent in the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2008 respectively. They gained 6.5 percent last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at aim.org ...
That will finish this anit-American rag for sure.
I wouldn’t give them the “change” that may be under my couch cushions.
Amen. Charging for crap means NO ONE will read it.
Nothing like the smell of burning MSM in the morning...smells like victory!
Pay for the NYT?
There is no emoticon for the level of laughter I’m experiencing.
Thwy couldn’t pay me enough to read that crap.
ping
I can see the NYT turning into an RIAA.....Suing over news stories found online...
at least when you pay for the printed version it has some residual value as fish-wrap and bird cage liner...
I can see the NYT turning into an RIAA.....Suing over news stories found online...
That would be hilarious!
Drudge reports “President Meets Foreign Leaders” and Pinch slaps a Cease and Desist order on him...
But I don’t even read them now, why would I pay to read something I find unworthy of my time.
I subscribe to three newspaper and at least several times a week I have to pull a paper out of the rain gutter at the end of the driveway. On sprinkler day - that paper's wet.
The 'paper on a stoop' or sidewalk ended years ago when adults took over tossing papers from neighborhood kids on bikes. When I was a kid and tossed papers adults didn't tip if the paper wasn't up near the door. With adult paper "boys" you get the Christmas envelope and your concerns are treated with the same concern any union person gives annoying customers.
In short where the customer interacts with the newspaper is a rough level. And it doesn't matter how ethical or well spoken the newsroom people are - the customer interacts with the harsh side... it's a mistake.
Dumping neighborhood kids was back at the beginning of the decline - when short sighted “incremental degradation” of newspapers started...
I agree....wholeheartedly...
I too was a paperboy from 1964-1965. I was good at it and I was proud of my service.
When my buddy and I threw the Sunday paper, in Mom's car, around 4AM (0400 hours) we could drive 40 MPH and hit every yard center-point (on or near the walkway). Of course there was some possible safety issue because the paper was released 2 yards prior.....but we managed to get every paper at every residence on time and in great shape...or we delivered a replacement within 10 minutes of a complaint call.
Those days are gone....when our paper is not delivered, we get a credit...if we call...the paper never appears...but then again, the news printed is 2 days old anyway...
In the 50's most families had one car - and kids threw papers from their bicycles. Sometimes Mom would help fold papers, but that was it... And throwing them in the yard was "unacceptable". We had to land most of them on the door stoop. I had one guy who would wait for me by the door to make sure I didn't miss - and if I did he'd be yelling at me if I tried to ride away.
I had people who I had to go back to three or four times to collect the money - my early introduction to people who didn't keep their word. And my introduction to people who did - it was a great experience. And we were all part of the "paper". Which we all saw as the place Clark Kent worked...
Anyhow, papers got more efficient - separated themselves from the community they were suppose to serve - elitist to the hilt - and wonder why it's all ending.
Reminds me of the story about the Sub Shoppe. Guy buys a wildly popular Sub Shoppe and decides to "up the profits" so he changes out the beef steak tomatoes for some pinkish tasteless things. And NO ONE CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. His profits go up. Then he goes with a cheaper lettuse - and no one can taste the difference.
A month later he goes with lower quality meats - and sure enough - no one can tell the difference. Same with onions and olive oil. The guy's cut the cost of the sandwich by half. Profit per sandwich are waaaay up. Then something odd happens - his customers quit buying sandwiches.
A wise old man walks into the shop and hears his tale of woe - and explanation of how "no one could tell the difference". "What could of gone wrong"?
The wise man says, "make the sandwich the way it was when you bought the store - with all your the original ingredients. Then make the one you're selling now. Let's taste them. Sure enough - the difference was massive. One was delicious - one was dreadful. And the new owner didn't understand. The old man explained that each small incremental change didn't make a difference - but over time - the cumulative changes so degraded the product that it was inedible.
This is what's happened to the Washington Post and the New York Times and the whole field of journalism. Incremental degradation of the product.
Collecting was where the rubber met the road.... Good customers would answer the door, pay up in cash......and a few, a very few deadbeats would ignore the knock and the "Collecting for the Chronicle" yell..... Sometimes these folks would attempt to initiate another subscription in another name....GRIN...
Those that repeatedly failed to pay...well let's just say a kid cheated out of $1.50 per month subscription didn't take that laying down.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.