Murdoch Pay Two View

[planeterotica]

So the kangaroo cunt thinks we will pay to read his shite !b !sadbanana!

[Sam Slater]

I think it's fantastic. It just means less people will read his shite. A lot of adults still buy newspapers out of habit, and because the technology to get all your news online, on the go, still makes it a little inconvenient and costly (laptops are heavy, tablets new, phones too small etc). The school-leavers of today don't have this 20th century, print and paper legacy. They'll read their news on PCs at work/home and tablets and phones on the tube/bus/train.....and they're not going to pay when there's a 100 other sites giving it away for free.

It's good for the Guardian & Independent too. They'll get more eyeballs on their sites because it's free which means they can charge advertisers more to put up their ads. They just might make a profit!

[alicia_fan_uk]

Interesting point about the print and paper legacy, Sam. I'm in my twenties and am at ease with this whole www inter-web thingy. I read the Guardian and Observer but always buy the print versions rather than access the same content for free online. Why? I just think you can't beat sitting at the table reading the print editions (so much so that I have to get the local shop to order my copies in especially for me).

I don't think Murdoch's strategy will be successful in the longer term, for the reasons identified above (although I do note his NewsCorp recently bought up Skiff, , so he is trying to cover his bases). As well as the benefit of "less people read(ing) his shite", it also means those same people will be slightly poorer, so will arguably have less money to give him for his other ventures, such as via their SKY subs (going up substantially in September, I hear) etc.

alicia_fan_uk

[Floydoid]

alicia_fan_uk wrote:

> ...so much so that I have to get the local shop to order my copies in especially for me

And by doing that you are supporting a local business - I work for a newsagent's and I know what a struggle it is for them to keep going these days, what with the customer base generally getting older and older.

[alicia_fan_uk]

Yeah, I do try to support local businesses as much as possible; keeps the money local and stops outflow to "The Man". I hate Tesco-towns and identi-kit High Streets.

I hear what you are saying about the challenges of the local newsagent/shop; my local shop owner works about 80-odd hours a week in there. Harsh!

alicia_fan_uk

[David Johnson]

"I hate Tesco-towns and identi-kit High Streets."

I agree wholeheartedly. Tesco towns - Anywheresville UK.

CHeers
D

[Sam Slater]

I agree with all of what you say. We're slightly different in that I've cut my paper allowance almost to nil. I'll buy the Observer at the weekend and the odd Guardian, as well as the monthly Private Eye, but I don't have a 'daily' and haven't for a few years now. Most of the stories I've read online the night before and just see it as a waste.

The reason I despise paywalls for news content isn't just about money, but access to a different point of view. We all know the differences between the Telegraph and the Independent, or the Guardian and the Daily Mail....and we all know that a certain type of person will read one over another based on mainly political reasons. What's been good about the last 10 years or so is that liberals and neo-cons alike have had easy access to a different opinion. Closed gardens, I feel, leads back to closed minds. Pay walls for news will once again lead to right-wingers paying for access to one app/site and liberals/socialists the other. In a solely newpaper/paid app/site world, as a Guardian reader I won't bother spending my money buying the Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail just for a different slant of current affairs. The same will probably be true others. I do, however, click on links to articles from the Daily Mail in this free, easy-access internet world we've created now. I don't always agree, and spend most of my time shaking my head but I'm at least seeing the 'other side'; seeing things from a different angle. Paywalls make it easier for us to shut ourselves off from the alternative view, and that's bad.

But as you say, hopefully paywalls won't work and media corporations give up trying. I think that newspaper sales will plummet over the next 10 years and most news corporations will be forced to stick to web-only content to make a profit. Print & paper is damn expensive to publish and distribute.

Eric Schmidt talks a little about the future of media in this article >

The media industry over the other side of the pond are in bigger trouble than ours.

[alicia_fan_uk]

Agreed, Sam; I believe you can only really argue in favour of something if you have at least understood and evaluated the counter arguments. However, it's very unlikely that you will navigate paywalls etc to reach such a position.

I am a "weekend" print reader; ie Saturday Guardian, Sunday Observer, Sunday Herald. I don't get the time during the week to read a daily, so generally rely on a quick read of the BBC website at some point during the day. Be aware that you are missing out on every other Private Eye, though - it comes out fortnightly, not monthly. Subscribe to it and (i) save and (ii) get it delivered so you don't go without!

alicia_fan_uk

[Sam Slater]

[quote]Be aware that you are missing out on every other Private Eye, though - it comes out fortnightly, not monthly. Subscribe to it and (i) save and (ii) get it delivered so you don't go without![/quote]

Ok, Ian! !wink!

I meant fortnightly !doh!

[alicia_fan_uk]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to make Pedants' Corner with my post above - just genuinely didn't want you to miss out!

alicia_fan_uk