24 ms·

Newspaper subscription experiment

135 points by OMGWTF 10y ago

the_gastropod 10y ago
It is bizarre that we don't have any consumer protection law around requiring an option for online cancellation for subscriptions that offer online purchases. edit: spelling ;-)
- crooked-v 10y ago
  I agree with the sentiment, but I think you meant to use "bizarre".
  - the_gastropod 10y ago
    Hah! Thanks
- ksherlock 10y ago
  Won't do any good. Newspapers are exempt from do not call lists and you better believe their lobbyists would get them exempted from that as well.
  - Someone1234 10y ago
    > Newspapers are exempt from do not call lists That does not appear to be true. > Exempt Organizations include charities or certain non-profit organizations, organizations engaged in political solicitations or surveys, or Sellers or Telemarketers that call ONLY consumers with whom they have an established business relationship or from whom they have obtained the express written agreement to call.
rc_bhg 10y ago
His logic makes sense to me.
problems 10y ago
> You have to sit through an online chat session which takes longer than it should. Apparently you’re not allowed to cancel your subscription until you answer the question, how is your day going? This right here is why PayPal won online payments. They're extremely consumer friendly. One button cancellation, no fucking around. I don't even bother going to sites any more, I just open PayPal and hit cancel. I basically won't work with anything that's not PayPal or Bitcoin these days due to hassles like this. Out of curiosity, does anyone have any experience getting their credit card company to cancel all future payments to a company? Is this easy to do?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- PKop 10y ago
  Required a phone call with a little repetition of my request to 2 people, as well as explanation of the reason for canceling... but not that hard. (Chase Bank) Certainly not as simple as on online form though.
- tghw 10y ago
  Final will do it. They allow you to create a card for each payee, which you can cancel at any time. https://www.getfinal.com/ https://www.getfinal.com/ (I have a card, but am not otherwise affiliated with them.)
  - problems 10y ago
    Looks cool but it's US-only, so not something I can use.
    - tigroferoce 10y ago
      Definitely. I had already commented on final, that a payment system that is US-only is not "the new payment system for the new century", but a "slightly improved 40-years old payment system". Things like PayPal are way better than it.
  - 10y ago
roystonvassey 10y ago
I loved the content in the Journal but unfortunately I was put off by their sneaky behaviour when they charged my card for the next month's subscription after the free month. Granted I should've set an alert but, they could've at least informed me once before it expired. To then cancel it, I had to make a call and stay on it for half hour. I still can't figure out who's coming with these hackneyed marketing "solutions" at media houses.
- problems 10y ago
  Unfortunately this is an extremely common practice. Usually what I do to avoid such things is to immediately cancel once they give me the free one as with most services you'll get to keep your subscription to the end of the month anyways.
verelo 10y ago
With all the talk of these businesses struggling, and their supposed focus on moving into the future, I would be a pretty upset shareholder to find out that they have the user experience this...wrong?! Although honestly, not shocked by anything here.
- VLM 10y ago
  The user experience is the ad sales department and they're usually very nice folks. The experience in the linked article is the experience of being the product sold. Its like the difference between working in marketing at KFC which is probably entertaining, vs being a factory farmed bird which probably isn't as much fun.
- Someone1234 10y ago
  You assume this isn't all on purpose as part of their "retention strategy." Pretty sure this is now taught in MBA farms to the latest batch of grads as everyone does it... Nobody measures the lost repeat business due to these retention strategies because most people don't look beyond the current fiscal year.
  - verelo 10y ago
    Another likely reality here is that there are A/B/C tests running, and this person just fell into a cohort where 12 month options were unavailable by chance. Either way, i'm just a pessimist, going digital isn't easy for any legacy company and it's clear they're all struggling.
davidw 10y ago
Financial Times is good too; similar PoV as the WSJ, but 100% less Murdoch control.
- andyhnj 10y ago
  I canceled my WSJ sub years ago, because I could see it going downhill after Murdoch took over.
  - gdulli 10y ago
    > The Journal’s opinion pages have been a showcase for the intra-right divide over Trump, featuring Trump-sympathetic writers like Bill McGurn alongside anti-Trump columnists such as Bret Stephens. Lasswell appears to be a casualty of that divide, and his dismissal a victory for the pro-Trump faction on the editorial staff. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/conflict-over-trump-forces-out-an-opinion-editor-at-the-wall-street-journal/516318/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/conflic...
- hbosch 10y ago
  How is the US coverage from the FT? The best parts about the WSJ (and NYT) is the timely breaking news, the live-video and live-audio feeds of various proceedings (E.g. both had a live broadcast of the cabinet confirmations, along with real-time input from on-hand journalists, giving generally good insight). I actually vastly prefer the FT website to NYT/WP/WSJ, but would very much appreciate the prompt US-centric news feeds. I know it's Euro-centric and Britain-based, so I wanted to ask.
  - davidw 10y ago
    I'm not sure it's a "breaking news" type of outfit compared to others, but they tend to be fairly thorough and there is a US section. I actually do like a bit more Europe/World coverage. I don't subscribe to FT, though - I barely finish The Economist each week.
  - tallanvor 10y ago
    FT won't be for you if you want the non-business US stuff. It covers the basics, but they're not breaking US news.
pythonaut_16 10y ago
10/10 post. It was interesting, short, and to the point and matched precisely to the title (i.e. no clickbait)
- smhenderson 10y ago
  I find most of Ted's posts to be exactly that. He doesn't post daily but frequently enough that's it worth visiting regularly. That and all the great updates on OpenBSD development!
baccredited 10y ago
This guy's approach reminds me of why I ended up with Dish instead of DirecTV. Dish was the one that lets me DOWNGRADE my service without forcing me to pick up the phone. Cancel HBO? Just click!
- mgkimsal 10y ago
  odd... we had directv, and the last year, we'd downgraded to the most basic service. we'd 'upgrade' for 3 hours to watch a sports game 2x per month - were prorated for those days - and would 'downgrade' right after the game. So... basic service for 28 days, prorated 'higher package' price for 3 days. worked fine all done from their website. Usually needed to do it at least 5 minutes before the game.
gigatexal 10y ago
Best line: "First, I’ll note that I have a pretty much unlimited media budget. If I can afford to spend a hundred dollars per month poisoning myself with tequila, I can spend that much on information."
- mturmon 10y ago
  Yes. Stated humorously, but presumably meant seriously. I've concluded the same about informational media such as books, magazines, music. If I'm paying attention to it and getting value, it's generally worth paying for and not agonizing about the price.
  - gigatexal 10y ago
    In all seriousness kudos to you for subscribing to physical news papers -- I find it highly cathartic to sit down and read a newspaper. I think it reminds me of my dad and granddad reading the paper, so brings back good times. That and you get info without all the radiation of a monitor.
    - mturmon 10y ago
      Dead tree magazines, yes...newspapers, no. For me, anyway.
pettazz 10y ago
Okay, this is a good look into the payment systems of all three, but I feel like judging them solely by that and not by the content of the actual paper is probably not the right metric to use here.
- VLM 10y ago
  Yet, its strangely fair, in that regardless of the content of the Times, billing in that industry is so bad, and billing at the Times is so unusually awful within industry standards, that he couldn't give them money to subscribe. By analogy I trade money for code, and I won't sell code to you (nothing personal, just can't), so you can wonder how good my code is, but it doesn't really matter because I won't sell you my code regardless of its quality level.
jakewins 10y ago
I replaced my fairly curated (/r/neutralpolitics, /r/neutralnews etc) Reddit morning news with NYT about a month ago. It's completely changed my morning routine. I feel much more "holistically" informed, and I feel calmer since the news are significantly more nuanced than what makes it to the top of organic news sites. The "morning briefing", which gives me a brief summary of key news items to go with my morning coffee, alone would have been worth the $3.75 a week. Had none of the issues OP notes on getting an annual subscription - and at the NYT price point, I'm ashamed it took me this long to pay for good journalism. Independent of what rag you support, if you don't currently pay for journalistic work, please consider doing so. The dollar figures are minimal and constitute a tremendous boost for the Fourth Estate. https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8U939.html?campaignId=6KQ4R&gclid=CIuEt_21kNICFQaVfgodz2oNQw https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8U939.h...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- BlackjackCF 10y ago
  Yup. I started subscribing to the NYT for the same reason. Also those mini crosswords in the NYT app are pretty fun.
- problems 10y ago
  This seems like a good idea, but I'd really like something a little less slanted than NYT. Any good options?
  - untog 10y ago
    I don't think it's possible to find one single organisation that has an entirely neutral perspective. By and large I find NYT reporting to be very accurate, but it's only healthy to seek out other publications from time to time. That's where the "10 free articles" model comes in useful - the bulk of my reading is through NYT, but I can "lightly graze" on other sources throughout the month. Another option is Blendle, which lets you pay per article. I don't know how many news orgs they have so far, though.
Spooky23 10y ago
He's lucky he didn't try to subscribe to a local Hearst paper. I subscribed because I like the paper and the newsstand in my building closed. But the process is bizarre -- They only let you subscribe in weird increments of weeks vs. months. Then you get what they call "bonus" weeks, but the outcome is that the billing system ends up double-billing you for up to one week, and you can't predict when the bills will come.
- DrScump 10y ago
  For insight into modern Hearst ethics, read up on their acquisition of the San Francisco Chronicle.
gukov 10y ago
Subscribing to mega newspapers to save journalism and democracy is like buying Coca-Cola daily to save farmers.
- brickmort 10y ago
  It didn't occur to the author that social media is the new journalism.
  - a3n 10y ago
    Shouldn't that be spelled New Journalism?
  - dtparr 10y ago
    What does this mean, exactly? I get social media is how the results of journalism get distributed, but what funds the journalism itself if traditional news/media companies go out of business? Is twitter or facebook going to fund investigative journalists? What's the business model for a company looking to pay people to research and write about things if 'social media is the new journalism'? Do we rely on non-profits/donations? Or are you proposing we'll get all our news in a decentralized manner via people posting what's going on around them?
  - jdietrich 10y ago
    "You do not, in my city, run into bloggers or so-called citizen journalists at city hall, or in the courthouse hallways, or in the bars where police officers gather. You don't see them consistently nurturing and then pressing sources. You don't see them holding institutions accountable on a daily basis. Why? Because high-end journalism is a profession. It requires daily full-time commitment by trained men and women who return to the same beats day in and day out. Reporting was the hardest and in some ways most gratifying job I ever had. I am offended to think that anyone, anywhere believes that American monoliths as insulated, self-preserving and self-justifying as police departments, school systems, legislatures and chief executives can be held to gathered facts by amateurs, pursuing the task without compensation, training, or for that matter, sufficient training to make public officials even care who it is they're lying to or who they're withholding information from. Indeed, the very phrase 'citizen journalist' strikes my ear as Orwellian. A neighbour who is a good listener and cares about people is a good neighbour. He is not, in any sense, a 'citizen social worker'. Just as the neighbour with a garden hose and good intentions is not a 'citizen firefighter'. To say so is a heedless insult to trained social workers and firefighters." - David Simon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llnbzq7b4Ww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llnbzq7b4Ww
pdog 10y ago
> Zero newspapers allow you to change subscription term online. It’s 2017 and newspapers haven’t figured out web forms with radio buttons. Newspapers all have digital departments, yet you can only cancel your subscription by calling a phone number...
- chinathrow 10y ago
  That is, of course, by design. So the reference to "2017" or "digital departments" is moot - they want to make cancellation as cumbersome as possible. From a european view, I think this should be regulated: enable the same channel used for easy subscription also for easy cancellation.
  - Semaphor 10y ago
    We had some lawsuits about that in Germany (having to be able to cancel the same way you subscribed) where common sense won. Not sure how far implementation has gone though.
yniels 10y ago
Did you try blendle.com? They launched a beta product in the US and with 1 account you can read multiple US newspapers. But already have there product wide available in Netherlands and Germany
- leotravis10 10y ago
  I do have Blendle here in the States, very good option for plenty of newspapers and content. Do enjoy the pay-per-article type.
- a3n 10y ago
  Apparently I have to give them my email before they'll tell me how much it costs, or give me enough information to estimate my particular cost.
  - antisthenes 10y ago
    If memory serves, you get $5 free when you sign up, and after that you pay per article, which ranges from 30 to 80 cents. It's worth checking out if you have a separate email for things like that.
  - PhantomGremlin 10y ago
    Neither of those things inspire confidence in their business model. Also Blendle has been in beta for 11 months. Maybe longer? The exact opposite of "internet years".
Yhippa 10y ago
The first thing I do whenever I subscribe to a service these days is research how difficult it is to unsubscribe from it. I was tempted to get Sunday delivery for some of those newspapers in the article but realized that it would be tough to get out of them. I think this type of interaction might make sense for a different type of customer. I imagine people who are getting the physical version of a newspaper might be older or less tech-savvy so the "bad old way" of waiting in a call center queue on hold might be what they are expecting instead of a fancy complicated web interface.
hackuser 10y ago
Ted and jakewins both advocate subscribing to support newspapers and journalism. I absolutely agree that quality journalism is essential and should be paid for. But aim higher: In addition to subscribing, try to find a funding method that actually will work in the long run. Specifications, in no order: A) Journalists have sufficient funds to do quality work, earn a decent living, and attract talented, dedicated people to the profession. B) Journalists can speak truth to power and to an angry Internet mob. They are free from influence by their funders, to a great degree. C) The quality work is as widely distributed as possible. This is essential: If only subscribers can read it, then only tiny portion of the online world can benefit and it's not part of the public conversation. Instead of the Internet dream (very achievable) of distributing valuable content effortlessly, we're back to the old days of it being available only to a few subscribers and everyone else subsists on 'fake news'. It's a question that's been asked many times, but so far nobody has solved it (and specification C is usually ignored).
- grkvlt 10y ago
  I believe this is essentially what The Guardian is set up to do, being owned by the Scott Trust [1][2] rather than normal shareholders. Assuming you agree with their politics, it is possible to support them by becoming a member [3] with a monthly subscription of GBP 5.00 > The Scott Trust was originally created in 1936 to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian free from commercial or political interference. 1. https://www.theguardian.com/the-scott-trust https://www.theguardian.com/the-scott-trust 2. https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/oct/24/scott-trust-guardian-owner-journalism-newspaper https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/oct/24/scott-tru... 3. https://membership.theguardian.com/uk/supporter https://membership.theguardian.com/uk/supporter

135 points by OMGWTF 10y ago

It is bizarre that we don't have any consumer protection law around requiring an option for online cancellation for subscriptions that offer online purchases. edit: spelling ;-)

crooked-v 10y ago
I agree with the sentiment, but I think you meant to use "bizarre".
- the_gastropod 10y ago
  Hah! Thanks
ksherlock 10y ago
Won't do any good. Newspapers are exempt from do not call lists and you better believe their lobbyists would get them exempted from that as well.
- Someone1234 10y ago
  > Newspapers are exempt from do not call lists That does not appear to be true. > Exempt Organizations include charities or certain non-profit organizations, organizations engaged in political solicitations or surveys, or Sellers or Telemarketers that call ONLY consumers with whom they have an established business relationship or from whom they have obtained the express written agreement to call.

rc_bhg 10y ago

His logic makes sense to me.

problems 10y ago

> You have to sit through an online chat session which takes longer than it should. Apparently you’re not allowed to cancel your subscription until you answer the question, how is your day going? This right here is why PayPal won online payments. They're extremely consumer friendly. One button cancellation, no fucking around. I don't even bother going to sites any more, I just open PayPal and hit cancel. I basically won't work with anything that's not PayPal or Bitcoin these days due to hassles like this. Out of curiosity, does anyone have any experience getting their credit card company to cancel all future payments to a company? Is this easy to do?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
PKop 10y ago
Required a phone call with a little repetition of my request to 2 people, as well as explanation of the reason for canceling... but not that hard. (Chase Bank) Certainly not as simple as on online form though.
tghw 10y ago
Final will do it. They allow you to create a card for each payee, which you can cancel at any time. https://www.getfinal.com/ https://www.getfinal.com/ (I have a card, but am not otherwise affiliated with them.)
- problems 10y ago
  Looks cool but it's US-only, so not something I can use.
  - tigroferoce 10y ago
    Definitely. I had already commented on final, that a payment system that is US-only is not "the new payment system for the new century", but a "slightly improved 40-years old payment system". Things like PayPal are way better than it.
- 10y ago

roystonvassey 10y ago

I loved the content in the Journal but unfortunately I was put off by their sneaky behaviour when they charged my card for the next month's subscription after the free month. Granted I should've set an alert but, they could've at least informed me once before it expired. To then cancel it, I had to make a call and stay on it for half hour. I still can't figure out who's coming with these hackneyed marketing "solutions" at media houses.

problems 10y ago
Unfortunately this is an extremely common practice. Usually what I do to avoid such things is to immediately cancel once they give me the free one as with most services you'll get to keep your subscription to the end of the month anyways.

verelo 10y ago

With all the talk of these businesses struggling, and their supposed focus on moving into the future, I would be a pretty upset shareholder to find out that they have the user experience this...wrong?! Although honestly, not shocked by anything here.

VLM 10y ago
The user experience is the ad sales department and they're usually very nice folks. The experience in the linked article is the experience of being the product sold. Its like the difference between working in marketing at KFC which is probably entertaining, vs being a factory farmed bird which probably isn't as much fun.
Someone1234 10y ago
You assume this isn't all on purpose as part of their "retention strategy." Pretty sure this is now taught in MBA farms to the latest batch of grads as everyone does it... Nobody measures the lost repeat business due to these retention strategies because most people don't look beyond the current fiscal year.
- verelo 10y ago
  Another likely reality here is that there are A/B/C tests running, and this person just fell into a cohort where 12 month options were unavailable by chance. Either way, i'm just a pessimist, going digital isn't easy for any legacy company and it's clear they're all struggling.

davidw 10y ago

Financial Times is good too; similar PoV as the WSJ, but 100% less Murdoch control.

andyhnj 10y ago
I canceled my WSJ sub years ago, because I could see it going downhill after Murdoch took over.
- gdulli 10y ago
  > The Journal’s opinion pages have been a showcase for the intra-right divide over Trump, featuring Trump-sympathetic writers like Bill McGurn alongside anti-Trump columnists such as Bret Stephens. Lasswell appears to be a casualty of that divide, and his dismissal a victory for the pro-Trump faction on the editorial staff. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/conflict-over-trump-forces-out-an-opinion-editor-at-the-wall-street-journal/516318/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/conflic...
hbosch 10y ago
How is the US coverage from the FT? The best parts about the WSJ (and NYT) is the timely breaking news, the live-video and live-audio feeds of various proceedings (E.g. both had a live broadcast of the cabinet confirmations, along with real-time input from on-hand journalists, giving generally good insight). I actually vastly prefer the FT website to NYT/WP/WSJ, but would very much appreciate the prompt US-centric news feeds. I know it's Euro-centric and Britain-based, so I wanted to ask.
- davidw 10y ago
  I'm not sure it's a "breaking news" type of outfit compared to others, but they tend to be fairly thorough and there is a US section. I actually do like a bit more Europe/World coverage. I don't subscribe to FT, though - I barely finish The Economist each week.
- tallanvor 10y ago
  FT won't be for you if you want the non-business US stuff. It covers the basics, but they're not breaking US news.

pythonaut_16 10y ago

10/10 post. It was interesting, short, and to the point and matched precisely to the title (i.e. no clickbait)

smhenderson 10y ago
I find most of Ted's posts to be exactly that. He doesn't post daily but frequently enough that's it worth visiting regularly. That and all the great updates on OpenBSD development!

baccredited 10y ago

This guy's approach reminds me of why I ended up with Dish instead of DirecTV. Dish was the one that lets me DOWNGRADE my service without forcing me to pick up the phone. Cancel HBO? Just click!

mgkimsal 10y ago
odd... we had directv, and the last year, we'd downgraded to the most basic service. we'd 'upgrade' for 3 hours to watch a sports game 2x per month - were prorated for those days - and would 'downgrade' right after the game. So... basic service for 28 days, prorated 'higher package' price for 3 days. worked fine all done from their website. Usually needed to do it at least 5 minutes before the game.

gigatexal 10y ago

Best line: "First, I’ll note that I have a pretty much unlimited media budget. If I can afford to spend a hundred dollars per month poisoning myself with tequila, I can spend that much on information."

mturmon 10y ago
Yes. Stated humorously, but presumably meant seriously. I've concluded the same about informational media such as books, magazines, music. If I'm paying attention to it and getting value, it's generally worth paying for and not agonizing about the price.
- gigatexal 10y ago
  In all seriousness kudos to you for subscribing to physical news papers -- I find it highly cathartic to sit down and read a newspaper. I think it reminds me of my dad and granddad reading the paper, so brings back good times. That and you get info without all the radiation of a monitor.
  - mturmon 10y ago
    Dead tree magazines, yes...newspapers, no. For me, anyway.

pettazz 10y ago

Okay, this is a good look into the payment systems of all three, but I feel like judging them solely by that and not by the content of the actual paper is probably not the right metric to use here.

VLM 10y ago
Yet, its strangely fair, in that regardless of the content of the Times, billing in that industry is so bad, and billing at the Times is so unusually awful within industry standards, that he couldn't give them money to subscribe. By analogy I trade money for code, and I won't sell code to you (nothing personal, just can't), so you can wonder how good my code is, but it doesn't really matter because I won't sell you my code regardless of its quality level.

jakewins 10y ago

I replaced my fairly curated (/r/neutralpolitics, /r/neutralnews etc) Reddit morning news with NYT about a month ago. It's completely changed my morning routine. I feel much more "holistically" informed, and I feel calmer since the news are significantly more nuanced than what makes it to the top of organic news sites. The "morning briefing", which gives me a brief summary of key news items to go with my morning coffee, alone would have been worth the $3.75 a week. Had none of the issues OP notes on getting an annual subscription - and at the NYT price point, I'm ashamed it took me this long to pay for good journalism. Independent of what rag you support, if you don't currently pay for journalistic work, please consider doing so. The dollar figures are minimal and constitute a tremendous boost for the Fourth Estate. https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8U939.html?campaignId=6KQ4R&gclid=CIuEt_21kNICFQaVfgodz2oNQw https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8U939.h...

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
BlackjackCF 10y ago
Yup. I started subscribing to the NYT for the same reason. Also those mini crosswords in the NYT app are pretty fun.
problems 10y ago
This seems like a good idea, but I'd really like something a little less slanted than NYT. Any good options?
- untog 10y ago
  I don't think it's possible to find one single organisation that has an entirely neutral perspective. By and large I find NYT reporting to be very accurate, but it's only healthy to seek out other publications from time to time. That's where the "10 free articles" model comes in useful - the bulk of my reading is through NYT, but I can "lightly graze" on other sources throughout the month. Another option is Blendle, which lets you pay per article. I don't know how many news orgs they have so far, though.

Spooky23 10y ago

He's lucky he didn't try to subscribe to a local Hearst paper. I subscribed because I like the paper and the newsstand in my building closed. But the process is bizarre -- They only let you subscribe in weird increments of weeks vs. months. Then you get what they call "bonus" weeks, but the outcome is that the billing system ends up double-billing you for up to one week, and you can't predict when the bills will come.

DrScump 10y ago
For insight into modern Hearst ethics, read up on their acquisition of the San Francisco Chronicle.

gukov 10y ago

Subscribing to mega newspapers to save journalism and democracy is like buying Coca-Cola daily to save farmers.

brickmort 10y ago
It didn't occur to the author that social media is the new journalism.
- a3n 10y ago
  Shouldn't that be spelled New Journalism?
- dtparr 10y ago
  What does this mean, exactly? I get social media is how the results of journalism get distributed, but what funds the journalism itself if traditional news/media companies go out of business? Is twitter or facebook going to fund investigative journalists? What's the business model for a company looking to pay people to research and write about things if 'social media is the new journalism'? Do we rely on non-profits/donations? Or are you proposing we'll get all our news in a decentralized manner via people posting what's going on around them?
- jdietrich 10y ago
  "You do not, in my city, run into bloggers or so-called citizen journalists at city hall, or in the courthouse hallways, or in the bars where police officers gather. You don't see them consistently nurturing and then pressing sources. You don't see them holding institutions accountable on a daily basis. Why? Because high-end journalism is a profession. It requires daily full-time commitment by trained men and women who return to the same beats day in and day out. Reporting was the hardest and in some ways most gratifying job I ever had. I am offended to think that anyone, anywhere believes that American monoliths as insulated, self-preserving and self-justifying as police departments, school systems, legislatures and chief executives can be held to gathered facts by amateurs, pursuing the task without compensation, training, or for that matter, sufficient training to make public officials even care who it is they're lying to or who they're withholding information from. Indeed, the very phrase 'citizen journalist' strikes my ear as Orwellian. A neighbour who is a good listener and cares about people is a good neighbour. He is not, in any sense, a 'citizen social worker'. Just as the neighbour with a garden hose and good intentions is not a 'citizen firefighter'. To say so is a heedless insult to trained social workers and firefighters." - David Simon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llnbzq7b4Ww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llnbzq7b4Ww

pdog 10y ago

> Zero newspapers allow you to change subscription term online. It’s 2017 and newspapers haven’t figured out web forms with radio buttons. Newspapers all have digital departments, yet you can only cancel your subscription by calling a phone number...

chinathrow 10y ago
That is, of course, by design. So the reference to "2017" or "digital departments" is moot - they want to make cancellation as cumbersome as possible. From a european view, I think this should be regulated: enable the same channel used for easy subscription also for easy cancellation.
- Semaphor 10y ago
  We had some lawsuits about that in Germany (having to be able to cancel the same way you subscribed) where common sense won. Not sure how far implementation has gone though.

yniels 10y ago

Did you try blendle.com? They launched a beta product in the US and with 1 account you can read multiple US newspapers. But already have there product wide available in Netherlands and Germany

leotravis10 10y ago
I do have Blendle here in the States, very good option for plenty of newspapers and content. Do enjoy the pay-per-article type.
a3n 10y ago
Apparently I have to give them my email before they'll tell me how much it costs, or give me enough information to estimate my particular cost.
- antisthenes 10y ago
  If memory serves, you get $5 free when you sign up, and after that you pay per article, which ranges from 30 to 80 cents. It's worth checking out if you have a separate email for things like that.
- PhantomGremlin 10y ago
  Neither of those things inspire confidence in their business model. Also Blendle has been in beta for 11 months. Maybe longer? The exact opposite of "internet years".

Yhippa 10y ago

The first thing I do whenever I subscribe to a service these days is research how difficult it is to unsubscribe from it. I was tempted to get Sunday delivery for some of those newspapers in the article but realized that it would be tough to get out of them. I think this type of interaction might make sense for a different type of customer. I imagine people who are getting the physical version of a newspaper might be older or less tech-savvy so the "bad old way" of waiting in a call center queue on hold might be what they are expecting instead of a fancy complicated web interface.

hackuser 10y ago

Ted and jakewins both advocate subscribing to support newspapers and journalism. I absolutely agree that quality journalism is essential and should be paid for. But aim higher: In addition to subscribing, try to find a funding method that actually will work in the long run. Specifications, in no order: A) Journalists have sufficient funds to do quality work, earn a decent living, and attract talented, dedicated people to the profession. B) Journalists can speak truth to power and to an angry Internet mob. They are free from influence by their funders, to a great degree. C) The quality work is as widely distributed as possible. This is essential: If only subscribers can read it, then only tiny portion of the online world can benefit and it's not part of the public conversation. Instead of the Internet dream (very achievable) of distributing valuable content effortlessly, we're back to the old days of it being available only to a few subscribers and everyone else subsists on 'fake news'. It's a question that's been asked many times, but so far nobody has solved it (and specification C is usually ignored).

grkvlt 10y ago
I believe this is essentially what The Guardian is set up to do, being owned by the Scott Trust [1][2] rather than normal shareholders. Assuming you agree with their politics, it is possible to support them by becoming a member [3] with a monthly subscription of GBP 5.00 > The Scott Trust was originally created in 1936 to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian free from commercial or political interference. 1. https://www.theguardian.com/the-scott-trust https://www.theguardian.com/the-scott-trust 2. https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/oct/24/scott-trust-guardian-owner-journalism-newspaper https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2016/oct/24/scott-tru... 3. https://membership.theguardian.com/uk/supporter https://membership.theguardian.com/uk/supporter