Calgary Herald to put up paywall

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Well it was probably inevitable the way that industry is going...

The move means online readers of the Calgary Herald, National Post, Financial Post, Edmonton Journal, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post and Windsor Star will be asked to register for online accounts after reading 10 articles for free.
Print subscribers will continue to get full access to the newspaper's digital properties after completing a quick registration process. Digital readers who do not have a print subscription can pay $0.99 for the first month and then $9.95 a month thereafter.
Digital-only readers can also sign up for reduced subscription rate of $99.50 for an entire year.

I'm a bit torn as to whether I'll pay up - while I do want local news, the quality of the Herald's reporting has gone down the tubes. Not sure I want to pay $10/month for the republishing of PostMedia stories, sprinkled with with a few of Licia Corbella and Don Braid's ramblings. I do pay for the Globe - via a GlobeInvestor subscription so I don't mind paying for a decent service (as archaic as GI is currently....)

Anyone use other local news sites? I think I'm going to check out CFCN, CBC, and QR77's sites to see if they can replace local content.

[fundmark19]

It happened to me today. I just left the site and browsed elsewhere

[Bigtime]

I posted this on both my twitter and facebook.

I know it is comparing apples to oranges but the monthly cost for a subscription to the Economist is only $13.06/month (digital and print access).

Yes the Herald is daily but is it worth that $10 in this day and age where so many of us get our info online from sources other than the printed media?

[mykalberta]

I am really torn on this. I dont trust web media at all, while there is very little accountability with printed media, there is NONE for web free media.

I dont work for free, and I wouldnt expect the Herald to do so either.

I have a Herald subscription, so this doesnt apply to me. I prefer ready my actual news in paper format and my "maye is not quite sure" news online.

[MelBridgeman]

all sounds like tsnmax

that didn't last long

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I dont work for free, and I wouldnt expect the Herald to do so either.

Would you subscribe to a local news station that started offering Pay-per-view?

They get their money from advertizing. Other print media have shown they can get by with just ad revenue alone; as can online media. They are taking their 20th century business model of wanting to get paid on both ends. Sorry, that time has passed.

[PsYcNeT]

Not surprising. The NY Times has had a paywall up for awhile, which goes for $15 US a month ($180 a year).

[t0rrent98]

I don't bother going online to read the papers as we get ours delivered to us, even than I usually just read the sports section and that's about it. Better start reading the sun online now... Hehe.

[PsYcNeT]

In other news, Calgary's average IQ drops 15 points, and civic awareness plummets as Canoe.ca readership rises.

[YYC in LAX]

I go to CalgaryPuck for my local news.

[Northendzone]

let us hope that bingo does not get any ideas....keep CP Free!!!

[chemgear]

National and Financial Post as well too?

[bradster57]

Won't pay. Information and opinion is available for free all over the internet. If I need local I can watch the news.

[getbak]

Is this going to be like the Sun's paywall where all you have to do is close your browser window and it resets?

[DuffMan]

I just switched from Sun delivery to Sun delivery to my ipad. Completely happy with that decision and not throwing out a foot deep of newspaper every week, and it's only I think $5 or $8/ month or something like that.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by YYC in LAX

I go to CalgaryPuck for my local news.

It's very rare that local news makes it onto calgarypuck. Local events, maybe, but not much daily news on here.

[undercoverbrother]

#### that ####

[edn88]

It won't be long before I kill the app from my Iphone and Ipad. Get my news via Twitter, CP, CNN etc

Herald is sort of for when I am bored and have read all of the other stuff.

[Madman]

Good thing they are going to charge for online news - they need a way to pay for the stacks upon stacks of free copies they try to give away downtown all the time.

[LChoy]

As long as Girly Sports and others regular posters who post day day articles are able to post the articles on CP, I'll be happy