Look at this graph from the report, displaying how many people would continue to visit their favorite news site if they had to pay for it:
Ouch! You would think The New York Times, which I believe has the best site in the cyber-universe, is having second thoughts about their announced intention to charge for content, starting in 2011. But their online story about the Pew report claims news companies would be happy with getting 5 - 10% of their online audience to agree to pay...so 15% is great news.
The Christian Science Monitor suggests the Pew study means the cuts that have more than decimated newsrooms across the country will continue.
Way back in the 90's, there was concern by journalism purists that news...especially TV News...was being controlled by consultants who almost conducted daily polling to find the stories people wanted. If newspaper sites go with a "pay-per-click" option of payment, reporters will find themselves fighting to get readers to click their stories or else...
A well written item, Tim.
ReplyDeletePaying for news is akin to paying for the use of a toilet. That too, was an abysmal flop.
Already, our sensibilities are bombarded with, and we are subjected to, disgusting commercials for toilet paper, tampons, sanitary napkins, remedies for flatulence, bloating, diarrhea, body odor, erectile dysfunction, malodorous vaginal discharge, fungal infections of the feet, halitosis, and more.
And even more disgusting is that we actually PAY to watch them!
Yes, pay.
With the vast amount of advertising revenues that flow from the sick minds of Madison Avenue to the thieves of Wall Street, we should get everything we watch on television of any kind (satellite, cable, air) free!
Instead, we're saddled with a free-for-all of unparalleled proportions, wherein the rich get richer, and we the poor and vulnerable are virtually raped of our wallets. Why? Deregulation, the password of a Republican.
Recollect, if you will, those moments where televisions shows were presented almost wholly without commercial interruption. Public television is one such vehicle, wherein programs are uninterrupted, and non-commercial commercials for those supporting the programming are aired at the beginning and end of programs.
But I digress.
Pay for news?
I'd just as soon pay someone to vomit upon me.
And from what you shared that the Pew Center observed, the vast majority of Americans feel similarly.