QOTD: Would You Pay For Content Online?

[Guest]

Or, maybe if we're lucky, they'll just go out of business, then smaller, more passionate media outlets will replace them. ABCNNBS(and FOX) are all a bunch of self-serving liars, and they are all in bed with Washington DC's crooked elite. They just want to pass the cost of maintaining a propaganda operation(including executive pay and shareholder dividends) on to the people being duped in the first place, it's pretty fascist when you think about it.

 

[Hanin33]

nope.

 

[TwoDigital]

I look at this kind of like 'head hunters' while searching for a new job. You can do all the legwork yourself (looking for your 'good' daily news and filtering out the junk) or you can pay someone a nominal fee to take care of the busywork for you. Right now, I just find my own news online but as crap blogging and tons of ads become more and more common I think others will be willing to pay a few bucks each month to get a news site that does away with a lot of that. It's a CONVENIENCE you're paying for and not really the news itself - which is still free.

 

[Guest]

HAHAHAHAHA -- Oh, that was a serious question.

 

[CoryInJapan]

IN order to charge for news content it would have to be a low prices and offer features that gives your news ready a better experience than just going online to read the latest news.I can do that for free now and have no plans on paying for that.

 

[Blessedman]

I think that if news organizations began charging for content that you would see a new breed of journalist (the blogging type). Until the cycle recycled itself, a blogger would become so big that they get to the point where they think they can charge for their content (beyond advertising dollars).

 

[crisisavatar]

Not a chance

 

[hopiamani]

No, don't get ideas Tommy.

I pay for Valueline investment services, $2000 a year though

 

[rpmrush]

NEVER!!!

 

[yoy0yo]

I think its stupid, free press is one of the best things that I keep myself up to date with.

 

[leon2006]

No...I'm already paying for the Internet access. The content providers are already getting paid by advertisers.

I will pay for HD Movies or Shows if i can save copy for myself.

 

[imrul]

no

 

[spectrewind]

Not going to happen...

Using THG as an example, I have seen several articles written as some kind of authority that were factually incorrect, poorly constructed, and lacking in spelling/grammar checks. Selling a product with these repeatable attributes is a doomed business plan.

 

[socrates047]

people i don't have time to read the news (you know the stuff that matters) all i wanna hear is yes or no, why are their essays going on.

 

[Burodsx]

Newspapers and printer companies have been losing sales for quite some time now. Many companies have gone out of business, which is a sign of the times. The random crap I learn from newspapers doesn't benefit me one bit.

 

[xaira]

i dont even have a credit card, dont adds generate enough income, and im guessing if people had to pay, the # of clicks would decrease significantly

 

[viometrix]

tv makes revenue off of commercials, newspapers make most of their revenu off of print ads.... i wouldnt pay a subscription.... i would however be willing to put up with a pop up here and there with an ad in it... good ads for products and services i actually use or may use i even click on to check out.... so i would not pay for an online news subscription when i can get my news both online and on tv for free, and on tv i often get a laugh with a clever or witty commercial ;-)

 

[macclearly]

Make sure to tell Best of Media the answer is NO! I absolutely love reading GQ and Esquire, but the value of these magazines is seriously questionable as it is like I am paying for the privilege of being subjected to Dolce and Gabbana, as well as Ambercrombie and Fitch's sick, often disturbing ad campaigns. Hey we are talking news here though, right? Well in Toronto the local rags have gone to more and more sensationalism and blatant partisanship that have detracted from what I want a paper for. Not that online sources are not similarly effected but for free I can tolerate a whole lot more and have the ability to access way more sources.

 

[Guest]

Hell, I won't pay monthly fees for online games. I'm certainly not paying for online news.

 

[megamanx00]

For local news it's not a bad idea. Currently though our local paper offers content free online, but if you want to search any past stories you have to be a paying member and of course paying members get extra content that free visitors do not. They really need to make more of an effort to capitalize on their web page advertising revenue though since they still seem to be having financial trouble.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

No

 

[zdzichu]

I'm happily paying for my LWN.net subscription. The content is high enough quality (especially weekly editions) that it's worth few bucks. I'm paying despite all the content becoming freely available 2 weeks after publication.

 

[ngom52]

hell no!

 

[nachowarrior]

no, information is free on the internet and trying to introduce payment throws the entire basis of the internet out the window... well, at least the information part of it. porn is really where the money is. and hell msot of the time that's free too! I laugh at any news site that thinks it's news is exclusi\/e enough to pay for, they will fail and i will laugh. There's about 10 billion news sites out there and if they all decided to charge, i'd just decide to write my own damned news site for FREE, then i would own the largest news site e\/er because it would still be free with ad\/ertisements, no payment necessary, while the other pay sites run themsel\/es into the ground. or someone else can do it. i'm kinda lazy to do all that work. but i patented the idea this morning so you ha\/e to pay me to do it or i'll sue you microsoft style!

 

[gazfast]

G'day, Gaz from Oz here.

i guess i am in theminority on this one because i am a working journalist, we have newspapers, magazines and internet.

We have a free website ayone can log onto, and view our news output, however we also have a daily newsletter we email out to subscribers, with exclusive content.

we do very well for ourselves, no, I am not the owner or a shareholder, but our model is successful.

A few posters made the point they would pay for what are essentially feature articles, where we take, or make with research, a story exploring in greater detail something that may only e mentioned in passing on the 'front page'.

this, i suspect, is more likely how internet news will evolve, as I said we are doing well, but learning all the time about how to do it better, such as web video and much more.

Bottom line, anyone can post press releases, but if you want the insight and advantages of professionals, then you have to pay for it.

to put it this way, I have received some great help on computer problems here, but if i was to ask someone to do the job for me, they would expect get paid.

it is the same in my job, I need to earn a living, and that has to be paid for somehow.

thanks