Pay for News Trend

[TotallyOz]

The Wall Street Journal charges and so does the New York Times. This week, I noticed that now the LA Times has also started to charge money for reading the website after you read 10 or so articles in a month.

I love news and politics and so I finally gave in and subscribed to the New York Times. I may do the same for the LA Times. But, I sure wish they would do an all in package where I could get them all in a bundle. I hate paying for news but it seems like this trend is going to keep going forward.

[Guest EXPAT]

Think of it as a standard newspaper subscription. I guess no one cared they were paying for the physical paper to be delivered. But I guess we've gotten used to seeing stuff online for free.

[TampaYankee]

I do not follow news minutia. I don't even subscribe to a local paper. Haven't for years since they tried to force me to subscribe a year minimum. For years when I did subscribe they would just pile up in the house, mostly unread, and become a pain in the ass for the recycling bin.

However, I do have strong interest in national and international news and pretty much find what I need online free (Huffpost, Yahoo etc.) or on cable and broadcast TV. I find that Huffpost points me to the NYT, WaPo, etc when I have an interest. I haven't hit any ceilings yet. I just don't get deeply involved in that many stories.

I understand that real news junkies would need more than this but at my age I've seen most of it before. Oh, the names change but the larceny, mayhem and incompetence is still the same. So I save my attention for what is important to me: war, some politics, the economy, news in medicine, science and engineering. I manage to keep up, more or less, on the free outlets.

[Guest FourAces]

I am not sure its a trend. A few papers with huge followings have slowly been able to transition to a pay model. But there are still thousands of newspaper sites that will not be able to do so and hundreds of other sites from newspapers to magazines that have been unsuccessful at going the pay route.

The revenue model for most of these sites is either selling ad space or affiliate sales. Though online anything can change rather quickly so maybe you're right and we will see more of the pay to access model.

[TotallyOz]

I notice that Lucky posts links to the Wall Street Journal. I assume he must have a subscription to that. I have two subscriptions now: one to the New York Times and one to the Los Angeles Times.

I do not yet subscribe to the Wall Street Journal but when it was free, it was a daily stop.

What online news subscriptions do you have?

[Guest hitoallusa]

What about moving into the news business Oz and offer that very service you are talking about? Just come up with an incentive that major news providers can agree on. Let me know if you are interested in partnership with me. Who knows I will end up with a hot husband in the process.. Lol..

The Wall Street Journal charges and so does the New York Times. This week, I noticed that now the LA Times has also started to charge money for reading the website after you read 10 or so articles in a month.

I love news and politics and so I finally gave in and subscribed to the New York Times. I may do the same for the LA Times. But, I sure wish they would do an all in package where I could get them all in a bundle. I hate paying for news but it seems like this trend is going to keep going forward.

[JKane]

I just re-subscribed to a magazine's print version the other day. They are becoming rarer and rarer--more reason to support the ones you really like!

Have not yet felt much need to pay for news coverage though--and would NEVER support a Rupert Murdock "news" enterprise like the Wall Street Journal!

[Guest EXPAT]

I only get one magazine by mail - Entertainment Weekly. I find that I still read that one cover to cover. And I can get two years for $28 or so via Amazon. So that is very reasonable.

Like others have mentioned, I haven't hit a ceiling yet on what I want to read digitally. However, if I move to an iPad then I will hit that ceiling immediately. Via mobile websites they are very limiting compared to normal computer web browsers. This is one reason I haven't moved to an iPad yet. Plus I don't travel as much anymore so I haven't had the need. But I do want to movie to digital books at some point.

If I were to get a digital subscription, I would get the NYTimes first. But so far I've been able to read anything I want to read without too much limitation so far. If I were ever to go back into business, I would definitely subscribe to the digital version of The Wall Street Journal. But I find the print editions to be so old by the time they are delivered (in terms of the news value) that I'm surprised they are still in business.

[TotallyOz]

I subscribe to over 20 magazines but through Zinio. It is the exact magazine cover to cover in a very easy to use Adobe Air version. I love reading it this way as it reminds me of the magazines I use to read back in my youth. I don't really subscribe to any news magazines that way as the 20 or so I do subscribe to are more for entertainment purposes.

Do others use Zinio? It looks beautiful on a large scree!

[Guest EXPAT]

I never heard of it actually. (Zinio)

[Guest CharliePS]

I subscribe to the daily print versions of the LA Times and The Desert Sun, my local paper, and the Sunday edition of the NY Times. I prefer to slowly read the news--from every section of the paper--while stretched out on the living room sofa with a cup of coffee rather than in front of a computer, and I never watch news on television unless it's some huge breaking story, like 9/11. Of course, new headlines are constantly popping up on my computer screen, so I often know what's "new" long before I read about it in the papers.

My partner does all the crossword puzzles, so he couldn't do without the print versions.

[TotallyOz]

I never heard of it actually. (Zinio)

http://www.zinio.com/

I also created a little video to show you but it is small on YouTube. On my big screen it is incredible. I looked for a video from them to show you but didn't find one so I did one for you to see. Not a pro video but I hope it gets the point across.

[Lucky]

I love print news, but find that reading on the computer is easier on my eyes. When did they make the print so small?

Well, I really can still read it.

As for subscriptions, you get the online free with a print subscription. So I have indeed been lucky. I get the Sunday LA Times for 19 cents. That's right. It was a special for one year, and I was surprised to find that they automatically renewed it at the same rate.

The Wall Street Journal came for $99 a year, which gives you about 300 issues, so some 30 cents an issue. But renewal time is here and they want $215 a year- too much for me, especially with Murdoch increasingly making the paper a FOX News subsidiary.

The NY Times was at half-price for years. They recently stopped it, but when the bf and I were in New York, there was a booth at Century 21, offering six months at half-price. The bf signed up for it, and they gave us a $50 gift card to use at the store. Hopefully they will renew that one too.

[TotallyOz]

I got the NY Times cheap by subscribing to the Large Print edition. I have this sent to a friend and I then get the online for free. I think there was a special for like 1.00 USD per week. So, for me, also totally worth it.

Like Lucky, I had trouble with the print versions being to small to enjoy the read but the Online is easy for me. I much prefer the print but it is a struggle and traveling to much, I like constant access to NY Times and LA Times. I really wanted to do the Wall Street Journal but the RM factor swayed me against it this go around. If they sell it, I'll be an instant subscriber.

[Lucky]

The WSJ, for all of its business appeal, used to print some hard-hitting investigative pieces that took no prisoners. I would buy the paper for those. Now, under Murdoch, it's a rare day when any story shows imagination beyond the norm.

[Guest hitoallusa]

What if Warren Buffet bought WSJ? Are you guys going to change your mind?

[Guest FourAces]

I really enjoy this thread. Lots of good info and thanks to OZ for the Zinio demo. I have been aware of Zinio for quite a while but always been reluctant to subscribe to any magazines. I might give it a try though as I no longer subscribe to "paper" editions. And I do miss reading the entire issues.

Regarding paying for news I am not there yet. There are far too many free sources still around. Once in a while I might be reading a story at the Huff Post and the link takes me right to it at the NYT. So to date I don't recall being blocked from anything I really wanna read.

As mentioned by EXPAT "paper" newspapers are so outdated by the time they hit your door step each morning. So I have not subscribed to any in quite a few years.

[TotallyOz]

I will say that since the election was in my mind in the last month, that the NY Times online edition has been well-worth the money. I loved their editorials and all the great content. IMHO, this is some of the best money I have ever spent.

[Guest FourAces]

I guess with the election it might have been worth a few months of the NYT and maybe some others. But I doubt that I would have continued past this month as I still feel there are far too many free sources and even some access to sites like the NYT.

[Lucky]

My subscription to the WSJ expired a month ago, but they are still delivering it. I wrote them and said I would gladly renew for $99 a year. I await their response, since they are giving it to me for free now.

[lookin]

My subscription to the WSJ expired a month ago, but they are still delivering it. I wrote them and said I would gladly renew for $99 a year. I await their response, since they are giving it to me for free now.

No doubt they are searching for a way to honor your recent parsimony and keep you in the fold.