With the New York Times reaching into that big invisible corporate greed bin they obviously keep in case they should loose a penny or two in profits, on March 24th they put their “Paywall” system into effect.
I have never been a fan of the NY Times or any newspaper that has a political agenda, but what truly bothers me about the whole idea behind the paywall in general is that it sends a message to other media publishers in cyberspace, that they too can jump on the “pay to play”, or if you rather the “pay to read” band wagon, it will be accepted.
As i was growing up, the Daily Signal was my local newspaper, and by the time I graduated high school I landed a part time job as a high school sports stringer. I was fortunate to have met Calvin Deming, editor of the Daily Signal, because he taught me by example what being a journalist was all about. Writing the news in those days was still very old school with an IBM Selectric typewriter on every desk, stacks of page mock up paper siting next to a pica ruler, with a black and red grease pencil close by.
The things I learned about journalism didn’t include anything about having a political agenda, making financial security more important than printing the facts, or even blocking my reader’s ability in getting and reading my stories. What Calvin did teach me was all about honesty, integrity, and giving my readers the facts about whatever I wrote.
As my digital life began to expand i saw the power of the internet as an instant news source that delivered digital news and information for everyone, not those willing to pay for the privilege to read about things they could get for free (or 25 cents, the cost of a newspaper).
I am fully aware of the need for news agencies to be profitable, and what that boils down to is; if a newspaper is selling “real” newspapers then why should they try to double dip and charge for the same copy in an online version? Sounds like greed to me, and I suppose that if any of the NY Time’s management actually took the time to surf the net, it would only take them a few minutes to realize that there are countless alternatives for reliable online news that are 100% free
I am willing to bet they are many loyal NY Times online newspaper readers who are going to cough up the money to continue their access to the newspapers bourgeois articles and slanted viewpoint that make it ok to be boorish with a false sense of intellectual security, but hey, everyone has the right to be down right foolish.
I have never found any value in a news publisher who places financial success above the quality and integrity of its news and information and I am not the only one who feels this way, after doing a little Goggling on the subject, it seems the consensus on Mashable is NY Times Paywall NO, CNN YES!
No related posts.
