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Roger Ebert is starting a $5 subscription (The Ebert Club) for his online content.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
Dispatch Contemplates Going Pay/Subscription for Online Content
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lifeliberty
Here
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Snarf, I think your reading too much into it. I thought his responses were good from the ones I did read.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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michaelcoyote wrote >>
No. That would make the list dated.which implies that there is no room for newspapers in the modern world?
Uh... apart from printing them on dead trees (an expensive practice that is likely to go away eventually, but not soon) they are not going away if they can get past the current evolutionary hurdle. The reporting aspects are vital. Unpaid blogers are unlikely to ever provide the level of news coverage that paid reporters *can* provide. That they are not currently living up to what we might think is their potential speaks more to the management of them then the job itself.
Personally, I subscribe to the kindle edition of the dispatch and find that in that medium the dispatch is doing a very good job of delivering an lot of very useful information every single day in an easy to read format (with no stupid advertising! YAY!) that is simply accessible before I even get out of bed in the morning and without having to navigate their horrible website. And it does so at a price that is very reasonable.
Are all the stories they publish in as much depth as I want? No. Do they sometimes not publish a story about something I want to know about? Yes. Is it a theoretically "perfect" news outlet? No.
Is it worth the $7/month I pay for it? HELL YES.
Say what you want about the dispatch, but what are the alternatives?
bloggers? (how many actually do anything other than report what paid reporters are writing... How many are going to reliably report what is going on at the statehouse and other "boring" stuff that is vitally important? How many have inside contacts in those kinds of worlds?)
twitter? (all the news that's fit to print... in 140 characters or less)
TV news? (all the news that's fit to read... in 20 seconds or less)
radio? (WOSU does pretty well actually, but their reports are limited to the first several minutes of the hour. "news" 610 pretty much worthless... other outlets are even more limited)
The free weekly papers? (talk about hit and miss!)
Frankly, if the Dispatch fixes their website (the advertisers horrible code is a lot of what is screwing the thing up, which is easilly bypassed by addblock/noscript plugins), and decides that they are going to charge for access they're going to be around for a lot longer than you might think.
Posted 3 years ago # -
somertimeoh
Harrison West
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lifeliberty wrote >>
Snarf, I think your reading too much into it. I thought his responses were good from the ones I did read.In this particular response I would agree that he's not being a punk, but that's not the case in other exchanges.
What I got from this is that they are aware they aren't advancing as fast as technology is, but that their readership isn't either. They are trying, but it will take time since they are wearing many hats and becoming Twitter/blogging experts doesn't take priority over getting a paper on press every day.
I think it's OK to say that for those that have technologically advanced past the Dispatch, we have to stop asking them to keep up as we are a small minority. These things that are old hat to us - Twitter, blogs, etc. - are new phenomena to most of the world. It's probably just a matter of getting the right intern in there that could get them going. I doubt they have the budget to pay for a social media expert - whatever that is.
Posted 3 years ago # -
lifeliberty
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yeah, I'm just talking about this instance. Here I saw a willingness to listen and respond in a civil manner. also a willingness to work with critics as opposed to just fending off problems.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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somertimeoh wrote >> They are trying, but it will take time since they are wearing many hats and becoming Twitter/blogging experts doesn't take priority over getting a paper on press every day.
They also have to fight this ridiculous sense of entitlement that people have that THEIR tweet/text/email/comment/whatever is somehow even MORE important than all the other tweets/texts/emails/comments/whatever that person has recieved that day and also anything else a person in any business could POSSIBLY be doing (like making their product, or actually serving their customers). This extends into other areas too, even friendships, that there is a perception that if they don't immediately reply they're being somehow disrespectful or stupid.
No... they might simply be really freakin' busy! Not every business person has the time to sift through the growing number of voices demanding personal attention on the intertubes or has the ability or desire to PAY someone to do it for them.
Posted 3 years ago # -
my medium is dying
Bangs, ohio
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EmZeeGee
Clintonville
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drew wrote >>
Pleasantly surprised that he responded, he has at least some legitimate points.
He needs to realize, though, that Twitter is by its nature largely a two-way medium. Don't want to respond to tweets, don't tweet.Agreed. With all of it.
The Dispatch (along with other newspapers, and other industries) is in a tricky position: Keep longtime customers, most of whom prefer traditional media and communication methods; and attract new ones who prefer social media. It's hard to do both, especially with reduced staffs and funds. But the younger customers are just as important as the stalwart older ones, as they're the paper's future base. So for the sake of the future of the business, they have to manage both sides of the spectrum.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Twixlen
The Weston District
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It's awesome that he's responded, and he seems to honestly take in the criticism.
The place where I think he is missing the boat is about their level of interaction, and what "most" people desire from their paper. The thing is, the folks that prefer snail mail aren't the folks they need to worry about being readers. The whole point is to continually attract new readers - and to do that, you have to keep up with what is current. I think the key to their longevity is to figure out how to keep the Old Regime happy, all while attracting the New - meaning, they have to figure out how to interactively blog, use Facebook and Twitter. Sure, they are busy, but if they are using technology correctly, it doesn't have to be a burden.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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my medium is dying wrote >>
Rockmastermike wrote >>
The free weekly papers? (talk about hit and miss!)That's the nicest thing you've ever said about me.
heh... yeah, I guess it is. Credit where credit is due, I seem to recall thinking that at least one of your articles was pretty darned good. Unfortunately, I cannot right now recall what that article was.
Posted 3 years ago # -
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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Rockmastermike wrote >>
michaelcoyote wrote >>
No. That would make the list dated.which implies that there is no room for newspapers in the modern world?
Uh... apart from printing them on dead trees (an expensive practice that is likely to go away eventually, but not soon) they are not going away if they can get past the current evolutionary hurdle. The reporting aspects are vital.Sure, I'm being flip, but I think that the newspaper as we know it will be going away sometime in the next 10 to 15 years.
Nota bene: I've never once said News or journalists is going away anytime soon.
I'm guessing the news media is going to be a mess until a few things happen.
a) People figure out how to get paid to report. It's going to happen, I just have no idea how. Micro payments? Subscriptions?
b) The systems and technology for "a" are put in place.
c) People have to agree on "a" & "b". Probably the bigger problem.Side note: The Kindle is a slick device and I think that something like it will be the answer, but not at $299 a pop. I'd say that even at $99 it would be too expensive. You're going to need a reader that is within the reach of almost anyone. I'd say that $10-20 per reader is where we are going to have to be for mass acceptance. At that point you go from selling a few thousand subscriptions to a few hundred thousand, and then we're talking real revenue.
As for the Dispatch, I've not found it to be that great. Would it be worth $7/m to me? Probably not, but the WSJ, NYT, FT or SpiegelOnline might get into my News budget if I had a device like that.
Posted 3 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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my medium is dying wrote >>
Rockmastermike wrote >>
The free weekly papers? (talk about hit and miss!)That's the nicest thing you've ever said about me.
If it makes you feel any better I enjoyed your article about the Dispatch casino situation this week. It pretty much confirmed everything I was thinking.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
The Bacon District
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michaelcoyote wrote >>
As for the Dispatch, I've not found it to be that great. Would it be worth $7/m to me? Probably not, but the WSJ, NYT, FT or SpiegelOnline might get into my News budget if I had a device like that.I'm paying $13/month for daily NYT. A serious bargain compared to the price of the paper version.
you KNOW the price of readers is going to go down. This kind of tech almost always does. Early adopters pay the price. (In my case offset by what I would be paying for the newspaper.)
Also... and this may be more important to me than most other people... being able to SELECT the news stories you see leads to a greater tendency to only see news that is either reinforcing what you are already interested in or, in the case of editorials, only ones that reinforce your own views.
Personally I try to avoid that and absorb a little of everything and at least read the first paragraph of every article before I decide it's not worth reading the rest. This allows me to discover a lot of things I would otherwise not have bothered with.
The "paper" makes that very easy, the kindle makes it pretty easy too. The web site makes that nearly impossible unless you want to go through and click every link and wait for it to load (or, as I used to do, just grab the RSS feed and re-process it into an Ebook).
The website under micropayment (unless it gave free previews) would make that style of reading basically impossible and would also put a greater bias on stories I read to ones I would want to actually PAY for individually.
It's easy enough to lock yourself into a tunnel on the internet where you only see what you want to see, and plug your ears and say "LALALALALALA" at everything else. I don't think that's wise. Frankly, I feel this may be something that is contributing to what is widely thought to be a growing partisan divide that has developed over the last 10 years. I suspect a system that encourages greater reader bias selection will only make the situation worse.
It's this avoidance of reader bias that leads me to listen to the BBC and other 'national' radio stations too. yeah, I can fast forward past a story i don't care about, but generally you just listen. I pick up all kinds of weird stuff that way.
Posted 3 years ago # -
lisathewaitress
SoHud
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drew wrote >>
Pleasantly surprised that he responded, he has at least some legitimate points.
He needs to realize, though, that Twitter is by its nature largely a two-way medium. Don't want to respond to tweets, don't tweet.i, too was pleasantly surprised that he responded. Also I used Twitter as the example. I should have been clearer in saying their lack of communication isn't just about Twitter. It's about all conversation.
Posted 3 years ago # -
lisathewaitress
SoHud
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somertimeoh wrote >>
lifeliberty wrote >>
Snarf, I think your reading too much into it. I thought his responses were good from the ones I did read.I think it's OK to say that for those that have technologically advanced past the Dispatch, we have to stop asking them to keep up as we are a small minority. These things that are old hat to us - Twitter, blogs, etc. - are new phenomena to most of the world. It's probably just a matter of getting the right intern in there that could get them going. I doubt they have the budget to pay for a social media expert - whatever that is.
He does say himself that they have the highest readership in their division. I would argue that means we aren't in the minority.
Also, I did hear from someone who said they had been hired (by the dispatch) recently to work on many of the topics I brought up. And from what I know of this person, they will do a good job.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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somertimeoh
Harrison West
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lisathewaitress wrote >>
somertimeoh wrote >>
lifeliberty wrote >>
Snarf, I think your reading too much into it. I thought his responses were good from the ones I did read.I think it's OK to say that for those that have technologically advanced past the Dispatch, we have to stop asking them to keep up as we are a small minority. These things that are old hat to us - Twitter, blogs, etc. - are new phenomena to most of the world. It's probably just a matter of getting the right intern in there that could get them going. I doubt they have the budget to pay for a social media expert - whatever that is.
He does say himself that they have the highest readership in their division. I would argue that means we aren't in the minority.
Also, I did hear from someone who said they had been hired (by the dispatch) recently to work on many of the topics I brought up. And from what I know of this person, they will do a good job.Right, and the average person probably sees nothing wrong with the Dispatch website.
I'm confused. If you knew they recently hired someone to help them work through this online media maze, why criticize them for what they are doing now when you know it's going to evolve. That seems odd.
Posted 3 years ago # -
geedeck
Witalian Willage
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I'm just messing with you people now because you are impossible. But that is why I love you, now, isn't it?
Well, if you're looking for a good way to make a bad impression, then yes you should stereotype anyone who dares to participate in a community as part of some lock-step mindset.
The real problem is that traditional local news sources existed in a time of monopolies. Not traditional monopolies, but one built around the physical cost of distributing information. The only people they had to worry about were competitors. And that's the mindset they still have, seemingly. Local news in the 21st century is an ecosystem. It's not just Dispatch, it's not just Columbus Underground, it's not just the Other Paper, it's not just local tweets, it's not just local individual bloggers, it's not just local Yelp reviews. It's the whole thing. That change needs to be recognized. But we're in a significant economic downturn, and the one resource that we have in an almost unlimited quantity for nearly free cost, is communication. More than any time in human history.
If the traditional news media doesn't want to recognize that citizens are a stronger part of the human media ecosystem, more than anytime in sapient history on Earth, well that's their problem.
or tl;dr, qq moar 21st century media noobs
Posted 3 years ago #
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