Article link HERE.
The article outlines the fee structure, such as the fact that for $20 you can get a year's worth of on-line content, provided that you are a subscriber. Not a subscriber? That will cost you $7 a month.
Who will this cheese off? I suspect that first and foremost, those who like to copy and paste Scranton Times content word-for-word into postings on a "certain message board" will most be highly upset. After all, some of the individuals at that "certain message board" have stated that they are boycotting the Scranton Times, a fact that you wouldn't be able to tell based on all the content you see plastered all over the place.
As for my opinion, it's pretty simple: I don't care. Well, that's not entirely correct. I suppose I care from the standpoint that I like to link to Scranton Times content here, but that's more of a convenience than anything else. I buy the paper most mornings on my way to work, so I'm going to get all the content I want anyway. The reality here is that the Scranton Times owns the content that they create, so they are no obligation to give away any of it. Newspapers do serve a greater public good, but let's not forget that they are also for-profit businesses as well.
So if this action upsets you, all I can say is this: cry me a river.
If you run a business with the expectation that it will turn a profit, it's pretty reasonable to me that you would not want to give that product away for free.
No comments:
Post a Comment