4 ms·

Every single news source I can think of these days that is free serves pure garbage to infuse traffic to get more money from Google ads (or any other). I don't

Every single news source I can think of these days that is free serves pure garbage to infuse traffic to get more money from Google ads (or any other). I don't even click on BusinessInsider links on HN anymore. I prefer the reports to be more in depth and have more of the author in the report. If you are pressured to puke 5 of these a day, it will show in the content. These journalism meltdowns are coming more and more now. I wish it will make a change. If we don't have quality investigative journalism, were doomed

entee 10y ago
But as you rightly point out that costs money. I've been thinking about paying for some of the sites I use frequently but if you add up $5 a bunch of times you get to pretty big numbers per month. Also $5 for one website? That's 1/2 a Netflix subscription and for that I get an insane amount of content! There has to be a way to pool these fees in a sustainable manner so that I can buy many quality news sites at once.
- chris_wot 10y ago
  Perhaps a few big mastheads who have decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel need to be allowed to die a natural death. It might signal that they aren't actually giving the market who will pay for stories what they want (quality journalism, not clickbait rubbish) and make at least one of the others significantly improve. I can but hope...
- jey 10y ago
  Micropayments would be ideal. I'd be willing to pay $0.25 each time I wanted to read a WSJ article. I'd probably grumble that it "should" cost $0.05, but I'd pay anyway.
  - colinbartlett 10y ago
    Blendle is pretty much this and it's amazing. Only quality news sources and pay by the article. It's my go to source now.
  - dev1n 10y ago
    somebody wrote an api to allow you to read NY Times articles for micropayments in terms of satoshis [1]. You currently need a 21 Inc bitcoin computer to utilize the api but still neat to see someone is working on it. Unfortunately I can't link right to the app because it's not it's own page but search for NY times and it's written by a guy named Casey O'Neill. here's some example output Welcome to the New York Times Top Story! ------------------------------------------------ home world national politics nyregion business opinion technology health sports arts fashion dining travel magazine realestate What section would you like to read? travel 36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.: By INGRID K. WILLIAMS Yes, there are live oaks and elegant squares, but also innovative cuisine, a lively bar scene and a lush 30-acre park to stroll. Copy the following link to read the full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/travel/what-to-do-in-36-hours-in-savannah-georgia.html You just sent 5000 satoshis to: 1JkFJmvm7cKg1ZwXyvF5vRGi9m5qXWu8Qn ------------------------------------------------ Thank you for reading the New York Times today! ------------------------------------------------ [1]: https://21.co/mkt/ https://21.co/mkt/
  - im3w1l 10y ago
    I suspect the real problem to be solved in that space is how to do that without the slightest hint of friction.
    - jey 10y ago
      Their paywall is already friction. This would be a paywall that could be dismissed with a single click that costs $0.25.
- ariwilson 10y ago
  Google Contributor allows for this with a scalable price discovery mechanism (auction, you vs. ads). I've gone from never paying for the NY Times or Washington Post to paying them $2.51 and $3.24, respectively over the last year. http://contributor.google.com http://contributor.google.com
- petra 10y ago
  >> But as you rightly point out that costs money. I'm not sure. the main problem with the net isn't that you can't make enough for good writing using ads - but that it's extremely easy to copy someone else's hard work, maybe package with clickbait and make more money. And i suspect that even when money would be involved, it may still make sense to create content using someone else's hard work.
rhizome 10y ago
I'd throw out that it seems like Pareto is ruling the journalism field these days. There are at least 5x too many outlets and not enough actual (traditional) news to report.

entee 10y ago

But as you rightly point out that costs money. I've been thinking about paying for some of the sites I use frequently but if you add up $5 a bunch of times you get to pretty big numbers per month. Also $5 for one website? That's 1/2 a Netflix subscription and for that I get an insane amount of content! There has to be a way to pool these fees in a sustainable manner so that I can buy many quality news sites at once.

chris_wot 10y ago
Perhaps a few big mastheads who have decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel need to be allowed to die a natural death. It might signal that they aren't actually giving the market who will pay for stories what they want (quality journalism, not clickbait rubbish) and make at least one of the others significantly improve. I can but hope...
jey 10y ago
Micropayments would be ideal. I'd be willing to pay $0.25 each time I wanted to read a WSJ article. I'd probably grumble that it "should" cost $0.05, but I'd pay anyway.
- colinbartlett 10y ago
  Blendle is pretty much this and it's amazing. Only quality news sources and pay by the article. It's my go to source now.
- dev1n 10y ago
  somebody wrote an api to allow you to read NY Times articles for micropayments in terms of satoshis [1]. You currently need a 21 Inc bitcoin computer to utilize the api but still neat to see someone is working on it. Unfortunately I can't link right to the app because it's not it's own page but search for NY times and it's written by a guy named Casey O'Neill. here's some example output Welcome to the New York Times Top Story! ------------------------------------------------ home world national politics nyregion business opinion technology health sports arts fashion dining travel magazine realestate What section would you like to read? travel 36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.: By INGRID K. WILLIAMS Yes, there are live oaks and elegant squares, but also innovative cuisine, a lively bar scene and a lush 30-acre park to stroll. Copy the following link to read the full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/travel/what-to-do-in-36-hours-in-savannah-georgia.html You just sent 5000 satoshis to: 1JkFJmvm7cKg1ZwXyvF5vRGi9m5qXWu8Qn ------------------------------------------------ Thank you for reading the New York Times today! ------------------------------------------------ [1]: https://21.co/mkt/ https://21.co/mkt/
- im3w1l 10y ago
  I suspect the real problem to be solved in that space is how to do that without the slightest hint of friction.
  - jey 10y ago
    Their paywall is already friction. This would be a paywall that could be dismissed with a single click that costs $0.25.
ariwilson 10y ago
Google Contributor allows for this with a scalable price discovery mechanism (auction, you vs. ads). I've gone from never paying for the NY Times or Washington Post to paying them $2.51 and $3.24, respectively over the last year. http://contributor.google.com http://contributor.google.com
petra 10y ago
>> But as you rightly point out that costs money. I'm not sure. the main problem with the net isn't that you can't make enough for good writing using ads - but that it's extremely easy to copy someone else's hard work, maybe package with clickbait and make more money. And i suspect that even when money would be involved, it may still make sense to create content using someone else's hard work.

rhizome 10y ago

I'd throw out that it seems like Pareto is ruling the journalism field these days. There are at least 5x too many outlets and not enough actual (traditional) news to report.