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Downvote me/report me if this is against etiquette, but I'm working on a project around this very problem: supporting the government-independent press and recla

Downvote me/report me if this is against etiquette, but I'm working on a project around this very problem: supporting the government-independent press and reclaiming consumer power (by not using an ad-subsidised business model). I cannot pass up this perfect opportunity to ask people who care about/consume news: Information is a commodity (especially in english-speaking countries), yet independent news & information is critical to society. Would you be willing to donate (not pay) for news? Or what future for independent news/information sources do you hope/expect?

toomuchtodo 11y ago
> Would you be willing to donate (not pay) for news? Yes, but I believe people like myself are an outlier. I gave a substantial sum (<$1000) to Muckrock for their private prison investigation when it looked like their crowdfunding campaign might not fully fund. People will want to contribute to causes they're passionate about. Can you find enough people who are passionate about independent, unbiased journalism?
zw123456 11y ago
I would be willing to pay and or donate for a service where I could view content from a list of websites that are my favorites with the adds stripped out. Something like that may exist but I just don't know about it, if there is, I am interested.
vlehto 11y ago
Maybe. If I could somehow target that money to content that interest me, then yes. But I would not fund news coverage of British royal family. You could make it into "crowd commission". That might instill bit of healthy pride to the authors.
zem 11y ago
absolutely. i would not be willing to pay, but i would be happy to donate in the interests of keeping the news both high-quality and free for anyone to read sans ads.
mSparks 11y ago
don't we already kinda do that? I mean. most of us are switching our news sources to "trusted" peer review like Slashdot, ycombinator and various forums. often supported by donations or paid for by groups of friends. I mean. i can comment on this article here. but not on the site of the article linked. they mention the Huffington post. they have done well because they are actually reporting news. IMHO. the biggest problem with news sites is people are fed up of being lied to, and now have the opportunity via numerous means to point out when stories are lies. (presumably why the BBC killed it's comments sections). traditional media isn't crashing because people aren't willing to pay or donate for quality content. traditional media is crashing because it's all lies and propaganda, and everybody is waking up to it. and no one wants to pay (or donate) to be fed propaganda.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

> Would you be willing to donate (not pay) for news? Yes, but I believe people like myself are an outlier. I gave a substantial sum (<$1000) to Muckrock for their private prison investigation when it looked like their crowdfunding campaign might not fully fund. People will want to contribute to causes they're passionate about. Can you find enough people who are passionate about independent, unbiased journalism?

zw123456 11y ago

I would be willing to pay and or donate for a service where I could view content from a list of websites that are my favorites with the adds stripped out. Something like that may exist but I just don't know about it, if there is, I am interested.

vlehto 11y ago

Maybe. If I could somehow target that money to content that interest me, then yes. But I would not fund news coverage of British royal family. You could make it into "crowd commission". That might instill bit of healthy pride to the authors.

zem 11y ago

absolutely. i would not be willing to pay, but i would be happy to donate in the interests of keeping the news both high-quality and free for anyone to read sans ads.

mSparks 11y ago

don't we already kinda do that? I mean. most of us are switching our news sources to "trusted" peer review like Slashdot, ycombinator and various forums. often supported by donations or paid for by groups of friends. I mean. i can comment on this article here. but not on the site of the article linked. they mention the Huffington post. they have done well because they are actually reporting news. IMHO. the biggest problem with news sites is people are fed up of being lied to, and now have the opportunity via numerous means to point out when stories are lies. (presumably why the BBC killed it's comments sections). traditional media isn't crashing because people aren't willing to pay or donate for quality content. traditional media is crashing because it's all lies and propaganda, and everybody is waking up to it. and no one wants to pay (or donate) to be fed propaganda.