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a March 16th, 2013

  1. All the News that’s Fit to Print

    March 16, 2013 by admin

    MH900371064

    In 2011, the New York Times (NYT) switched from completely free online access to their content, to a limitation of only 20 articles a month.  At that point, we moved from our position of devoted reader to peeved consumers.  We did not decide to subscribe to NYT.  Instead, when we now hit their wall, we find workarounds, or we Google a story’s headline to find another news site’s take on the current event.

    The NYT is not alone in making the decision to charge for content.  Many other news sites have followed suit and now limit a reader’s access.  But charging for unlimited online perusal isn’t going to save these sites readership.  Instead, all it does is push their audience further away from choosing one specific news site as the source for all the day’s news.  The move to charge actually erodes readers’ loyalty.

    We are not going to be forced into paying for something that used to be free, unless we’re offered a unique twist or perk.  Just presenting unlimited access to news for a fee doesn’t work for us.  The NYT writers aren’t so unique that their articles compel us to subscribe.  Instead, we scan the content for the sources that are specific to NYT and open only those under our free access.  And we move offsite for all the other tidbits.  We remain annoyed at NYT and those other news sites that have created a barrier to what was once free.

    Our top 3 favorite, completely free, sources for news include:

     

    Do you subscribe and pay for your online news?  If so, what made you decide to do it?