Wednesday, August 25th, 2010...11:21 am
Survey asks: Would you pay for online news?
Back from a summer hiatus, and I have some interesting stuff for you from my jaunts around the blogosphere:
Would you pay for online news? Who wants to know? Well, Chas Hartman, a former newspaper reporter and now Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kentucky for one. And, well, pretty much everyone else who cares about the future of journalism. I “met” Hartman through Twitter (He’s @scoopingthenews). He’s gathering data on how people feel about paying for online news, and I offered to post a link to his survey. Stop right now, and take it. It takes, honestly, about two minutes. Thanks in advance. As for me, would I pay for online news? Sure, if it’s worth it. I’ve elaborated on this before.
Got a blog? Pay up: Speaking of paying for things, the city of Philadelphia seems to be taking the notion of charging to the absurb. Apparently, the city has begun sending letters to bloggers, alerting that they’ll need to “file for a Business Privilege Tax Return, even if they make far less than the $50-per-year or $300 lifetime fee the return requires,” according to Popular Fidelity blog. I heard this first on City Pages, although that entry seems to have been removed. Not sure why. So I’ll put a huge caveat before this blog entry by saying, if this is true, it’s crazy.
Most bloggers make almost nothing from their blogs. In a survey I recently conducted of a random sample of more than 400 women bloggers, 80% made not one dime from their blog. The remaining 20% made something, generally about 50 cents per month. (I case you’re wondering, I make zip. No ads=no money). What’s next? Kids will need a business license to sell lemonade.
Social media polices: I’ve written before about what I considered overly stringent social media rules some newspapers impose on their employees. Now, BusinessWeek has compiled a list of rules other organizations use. My take: Sure, a company needs some sense of what their employees are doing on social media because there is always someone who ruins it for the rest. But bottom line: Too many rules make social media about as fun and useful as staring into space with your hands on your lap. I worry about the proliferation of rules for a medium that only works if people can improvise, be themselves, and communicate freely.
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I'm Gina Masullo Chen, a 20-year veteran newspaper journalist who is a Ph.D. candidate in mass communications. I want to see journalism survive. I believe news organizations need to embrace new media, change their thinking, improve their content and innovate. Read more about me 
9 Comments
August 26th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
“Kids will need a business license to sell lemonade.” Hopefully that’s rhetorical, because some people think so. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/portland_lemonade_stand_runs_i.html. It required the county chairman to tell the inspectors to stand down.
August 26th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
RF – yes, I’m being sarcastic about the lemonade. I’m certainly not in favor of charging kids a business fee to run a lemonade stand — or charging any who wants to blog.
Gina
August 28th, 2010 at 12:24 am
First, the Philadelphia story is unfortunately true. There are many news stories about Philadelphia being a business unfriendly city, and stuff like this proves it. Then again, I don’t think there’s anybody in the country that believes Philadelphia is a friendly city to begin with.
Second, I have to admit that I would not pay for news online. There are just way too many places one can go to get free news from to offer any incentive to want to pay for it. Maybe there are some people who want to read specific content that some of these news providers put out, but overall I can’t see this becoming a major source of income. I just can’t see why anyone would want to pay for it and still be subjected to all the advertisements.
August 29th, 2010 at 3:02 am
It is a shame that Philly has began this with the blog/website game. It is no wonder the city population in general is so cranky. As far as paying for online news, I don’t believe you will ever get on a wide scale that as long as free news websites with quality content continue to appear.
August 29th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Good points.
I think as newspaper charge for online news, they will face a lot of problems. I personally don’t mind paying for some news, but I know that’s not the wide consensus.
I think newspaper should worry less about charging for online news and more about making product that’s unique and interesting enough for people to want to pay for. People will pay for anything they see as having value.
–Gina
September 5th, 2010 at 7:54 am
I would pay only for high quality news in some niche like finance.
Surely i will not pay for news you can find everywhere
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September 27th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
No paying for online news! Please!
November 11th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I would, if news have an add on!
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