Slog
News & ArtsFriday, July 10, 2009
Media "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It (Before I Give It Away)"
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 2:24 PM
The New York Times is reportedly considering a $5-a-month subscription for web content.
Apparently all print subscribers haven’t been asked (this by way of a full disclosure), but the New York Times is asking its dead tree readers whether they’d be willing to pay to access the paper’s content online.The numbers being floated are $2.50 a month for subscribers, and $5 a month for everyone else, according to Bloomberg.com.
Nytimes.com is currently free, and a previous attempt to put some their columnists behind a paywall, Times Select, ended with great fanfare nearly two years ago with the slogan: “Now, everyone is entitled to our opinions.”
Is this what the internet is going to be—a continuous battle over subscriptions and free content? Because that would suck.
(The title of this post is from a great old Georgia White song. It doesn't seem to be available anywhere online, but you should seek it out and listen to it. It's one of those songs you never forget.)
UPDATE: Gold Star Commenter Ironymaiden found the song here. Thank you so much, Ironymaiden. You made my Friday.)
1
They can't make money off the print edition and now we want them to report on the web for free too? This is exactly what is going to happen more and more.
2
here you go. I'll Keep Sittin' On It (If I Can't Sell It) by Georgia White on Rhapsody: http://tinyurl.com/nrwzdw
3
the late great Ruth Brown sang this in the show "Black and Blue", and i myself sang it at a party a few years ago. paul bobbeh, check your email for a questionable taste slog item.
5
This is exactly what they need to do.
Internet Labor is ripped off every day by Google and Yahoo but also blogs such as SLOG that use content for free.
It's time for those doing the real work to get paid a fair and just wage.
Internet Labor is ripped off every day by Google and Yahoo but also blogs such as SLOG that use content for free.
It's time for those doing the real work to get paid a fair and just wage.
6
I would totally pay $5/month. Right now I pay $0 and I feel terrible. But I work non-profit and couldn't justify the Reader price...
OH WTF THEY LOWERED IT(?!) TO $15/month! I can totally do that! Guilt-free NYTimes, here I come!
http://timesreader.nytimes.com/timesread…
OH WTF THEY LOWERED IT(?!) TO $15/month! I can totally do that! Guilt-free NYTimes, here I come!
http://timesreader.nytimes.com/timesread…
7
I can't believe I get to read the New York Times for free online. It's literally a steal. So yeah, I'd have no qualms about paying $5.00/month for it. In fact, it'd probably encourage me to read it more.
There's some content that's worth paying for. Anyone who works in/wants to work in journalism needs to believe that. Unless they're a negative nelly.
There's some content that's worth paying for. Anyone who works in/wants to work in journalism needs to believe that. Unless they're a negative nelly.
8
I already get the dead tree version; I hardly ever go to their website. Nope, I wouldn't pay extra for it.
9
"I've got diamonds I haven't even taken off to dust lately. This ain't St Vincent De Paul's place this Ruth's place."
I once had a paid sub for the online NYT. It was a pay site before it was a free site and now it wants to be a pay site again.
I'd pay. It's the paper of record.
I once had a paid sub for the online NYT. It was a pay site before it was a free site and now it wants to be a pay site again.
I'd pay. It's the paper of record.
10
If you'd like a more recent rendition of the Georgia White song, I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition by the drag diva Peppermint...
11
The Internet has always been a battle over paid content and free content, but time and time again free content wins out. People reject having to pay for [most] things online, while getting the same content elsewhere for free.
12
11 - What if everything online that can't cover its costs with ads adopted the "pay what you want" model? Maybe it would be kind of superfluous, but it seems to be the only way of making money online that actually works. Ask Radiohead.
13
The problem is people can provide the same content from India for one-twentieth the price.
Or, with ads, free.
Or, with ads, free.
14
Crap! I already used up all 25 of my free plays months ago, listening to Jon Simon's solo piano version of The Beatles' "Blackbird". Totally worth it, but now I can get only the first thirty seconds of Georgia White. The NYT is two bucks/day now, and six (SIX!!) on Sundays! Not buying it much, but fortunately most days a dude leaves behind his copy at the restaurant where I work (thanks, Carl!) and I'm sometimes able to snag it before the servers toss it (or even after, if there's not too much ranch dressing on it). Love the SLOGS. Best wishes to all from northwest PA
16
This is what's going to happen with newspapers across America, and it's going to kill blogging. Not completely, but most bloggers get their hits by commenting on news articles they link to (like... ahem... this one), and if the content in question is behind a wall, game over, because people aren't going to buy $2-5 subscriptions for each paper just to view an article someone linked to.
Bloggers will have to come up with a lot more original content. It'll change the internet as we know it, like an e-age of aquarius.
Bloggers will have to come up with a lot more original content. It'll change the internet as we know it, like an e-age of aquarius.
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