Calgary Herald to put up paywall

[burn_this_city]

It's easy to circumvent with incognito browser on chrome. I do that for the G&M and now the Herald. I'm not paying for something that is already laden with advertisements.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by ken0042

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.

What news media company that actually produces its own quality articles and journalism and just doenst repost/reprint other peoples stories like some sort of leach is profitable?

The only one I am aware of at least in NA is the WSJ. Would I pay for a local news channel - yes I would. I dont trust any wank with a Twitter or Facebook account to provide me news that is important to me.

[calgarywinning]

The system can be bypassed via Icognito browsing. It's interesting that they are putting up their hand at this point after establishing a free to browse model for years.

The value added here is very minimal and I think the online base will dwindle based on this, along with advertising revenue. While I don't mind paying for a product I use, I certainly don't rely on or count on the herald for any form of information, other than they tend to "notify" of breaking news before the local television shows.

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by YYC in LAX

I go to CalgaryPuck for my local news.

No offence to CP but this is a horrible place for local news. Threads rarely get started about anything Calgary news related.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

What news media company that actually produces its own quality articles and journalism and just doenst repost/reprint other peoples stories like some sort of leach is profitable?

The only one I am aware of at least in NA is the WSJ. Would I pay for a local news channel - yes I would. I dont trust any wank with a Twitter or Facebook account to provide me news that is important to me.

Once you start adding your own subjective criteria this discussion becomes pointless; as everybody will have their own definition of "quality."

My point remains that they should be able to make money from advertizers. Once they start charging for online use they number of people viewing the ads will go down, and they will make less money that way. I think it is a poor business decision that will come back to bite them. The Winnipeg Free Press tried this a few years ago and it was a failure.

[Jimmy Stang]

While I support the Herald's right to alter their business model as they wish, I'll probably exercise my right not to jump on board. My folks subscribe to the Herald, and whenever I have flipped through it I have found that it is simply advertisements, canned wire stories that I read on the web two days ago, and opinions that I'm not interested in. I don't see any value in paying $10 a month for that.

It's a shame for the local journalists who are working on the few local stories that are included. If there was a way to pay for only the local news at a reduced rate I might be interested, but I'm not going to pay $10 for the filler and ads that currently make up the paper.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

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

But they do allow you a certain number of free articles a month, and even now there are starting to be more holes in that; they have recently exempted video articles from the count of articles.

I think I'll need to go to CBC.ca for local news online.

[jtfrogger]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The Winnipeg Free Press tried this a few years ago and it was a failure.

I didn't even realize that the WFP had free content again. I used to read it online when I moved from Winnipeg to Calgary back in 2000. I read the content most days to keep up with what was happening. When they went to a paid model, I stopped reading it and didn't really miss it.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

The system can be bypassed via Icognito browsing. It's interesting that they are putting up their hand at this point after establishing a free to browse model for years.

The value added here is very minimal and I think the online base will dwindle based on this, along with advertising revenue. While I don't mind paying for a product I use, I certainly don't rely on or count on the herald for any form of information, other than they tend to "notify" of breaking news before the local television shows.

Thanks for the heads up.

[CaptainYooh]

I am a paid paper subscriber. A morning without coffee, Herald and Globe is not a usual morning for me. However; I am staunchly opposed to paid on-line news service. It is silly and poor business strategy. Derive your income through sales of advertising and add-on services but provide the news free.