3 ms·

This sounds entirely unappealing to me -- not to say you're wrong, just to say that not everyone agrees and your preferences might not be as widespread as you t

This sounds entirely unappealing to me -- not to say you're wrong, just to say that not everyone agrees and your preferences might not be as widespread as you think they are. (And its likely someone, somewhere has focus grouped or A/B tested this. It's not a novel idea. But there's a reason it doesn't exist, probably that it results in LESS money for the content producer)

ordinaryradical 3y ago
It could obviously live side by side with an actual subscription, and I’m sure this has been gamed out and called too risky in a hundred meetings. But newspapers need to reconcile that in an era of hypersmall publications (aka blogs, substack, etc.) they are no longer in a market which is about the overall package (the paper) but the individual writer. The business model does not reflect this reality, tie the transaction to that value, or respect that diversity of authorship is the value of the web. I want to read 20 authors from 20 papers, not 20 from 1. There is less and less value in having “a venue” to subscribe to apart from the support it gives individual authors to do in-depth work.
- notaustinpowers 3y ago
  I never understood how something like individual journalists, writers, reviews, etc on Substack or on their own blogs haven't formed something like a journalist cooperative. It's owned and operated by the journalists themselves, and they all maintain their independent and individual reporting. But now with the added support of 20-30 other journalists to work together for the really big stories. And it's easy enough to have the overarching cooperative submit for grants, donations, or other revenue-generating activities to support the journalism.
HenryBemis 3y ago
I would LOVE to have the big/fancy/major newspapers to have the option of paying $0.50 or $1 for articles. I don't read papers often, but once in a while, if something major is happening, I would love to read a 2-3-4 page analysis, with graphs, maps, etc. in a 'serious' newspaper. And than happens once per quarter. I'm a firm believer of "The less time one gives to the newspapers the better.." (Title: Nobody's Girl (En Famille), Author: Hector Malot) (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27690/27690-h/27690-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27690/27690-h/27690-h.htm)

ordinaryradical 3y ago

It could obviously live side by side with an actual subscription, and I’m sure this has been gamed out and called too risky in a hundred meetings. But newspapers need to reconcile that in an era of hypersmall publications (aka blogs, substack, etc.) they are no longer in a market which is about the overall package (the paper) but the individual writer. The business model does not reflect this reality, tie the transaction to that value, or respect that diversity of authorship is the value of the web. I want to read 20 authors from 20 papers, not 20 from 1. There is less and less value in having “a venue” to subscribe to apart from the support it gives individual authors to do in-depth work.

notaustinpowers 3y ago
I never understood how something like individual journalists, writers, reviews, etc on Substack or on their own blogs haven't formed something like a journalist cooperative. It's owned and operated by the journalists themselves, and they all maintain their independent and individual reporting. But now with the added support of 20-30 other journalists to work together for the really big stories. And it's easy enough to have the overarching cooperative submit for grants, donations, or other revenue-generating activities to support the journalism.

HenryBemis 3y ago

I would LOVE to have the big/fancy/major newspapers to have the option of paying $0.50 or $1 for articles. I don't read papers often, but once in a while, if something major is happening, I would love to read a 2-3-4 page analysis, with graphs, maps, etc. in a 'serious' newspaper. And than happens once per quarter. I'm a firm believer of "The less time one gives to the newspapers the better.." (Title: Nobody's Girl (En Famille), Author: Hector Malot) (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27690/27690-h/27690-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27690/27690-h/27690-h.htm)