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Of course, bringing a healthy online-subscription model back into the mainstream is definitely ideal for journalism. Even more than that, I do wish there was a

Of course, bringing a healthy online-subscription model back into the mainstream is definitely ideal for journalism. Even more than that, I do wish there was a quick/easy/safe way to purchase individual articles (or even whole issues could work if needed) for a few bucks. Back in the old days, if you were curious about a hot running story, you just went to the news-stand and bought a copy, not a whole year's subscription then and there. The ability to participate à la carte would certainly help paying customers like me.

SamuelAdams 6y ago
The problem with a story-by-story payment model is that it incentivizes publishers to focus on the headlines. It's also a bit tricky because people will only click on things that reflect what they want to hear. So even if an article is really well done, if it says something the majority of the population does not want to hear, good journalism will still die. For an example, consider the Boston Globe's reporting of the child abuse cases in the Catholic Church [1]. There are many who violently disagree with the premise, so much so that they actively refuse to read or inform themselves about it. And you're expecting them to pay for it? I'm also curious if there are any lessons learned from iTunes / Apple when they first started making individual songs in an album available for sale. Why buy an album of 12-15 songs for 10.99 when you can buy just those two good songs for 99c each? Do those artists still receive more sales? Is the overall effect more income for the music industry, or less? [1]: http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/betrayal/foreword.htm http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/betrayal/for...
Nasrudith 6y ago
One thing which could also help would be a "Netflix for news" given the pain points for payment and economies of scale. The tech scale mixing is beautiful in that way in that big providers and small can both be provided to the end user and revenue apportioned based on usage. Of course the newspapers have been in need of reform for a long time now on many levels. Not helping is Associated Press recycling of stories across many different papers which leads to trying to compete as distributors instead of content providers. Consolidation of conglomerates seem to have only doubled down on lack of quality.
- weehoo 6y ago
  Apple News+ already exists.

SamuelAdams 6y ago

The problem with a story-by-story payment model is that it incentivizes publishers to focus on the headlines. It's also a bit tricky because people will only click on things that reflect what they want to hear. So even if an article is really well done, if it says something the majority of the population does not want to hear, good journalism will still die. For an example, consider the Boston Globe's reporting of the child abuse cases in the Catholic Church [1]. There are many who violently disagree with the premise, so much so that they actively refuse to read or inform themselves about it. And you're expecting them to pay for it? I'm also curious if there are any lessons learned from iTunes / Apple when they first started making individual songs in an album available for sale. Why buy an album of 12-15 songs for 10.99 when you can buy just those two good songs for 99c each? Do those artists still receive more sales? Is the overall effect more income for the music industry, or less? [1]: http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/betrayal/foreword.htm http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/betrayal/for...

Nasrudith 6y ago

One thing which could also help would be a "Netflix for news" given the pain points for payment and economies of scale. The tech scale mixing is beautiful in that way in that big providers and small can both be provided to the end user and revenue apportioned based on usage. Of course the newspapers have been in need of reform for a long time now on many levels. Not helping is Associated Press recycling of stories across many different papers which leads to trying to compete as distributors instead of content providers. Consolidation of conglomerates seem to have only doubled down on lack of quality.

weehoo 6y ago
Apple News+ already exists.