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Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

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Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#81

PSA: Newspapers educate the public, and their services are essential for the functioning of our democracies. The best newspapers fund their operations through subscriptions, so please help society become well-informed by subscribing to your favorite newspapers.

Print media subscriptions are some of the best money I've spent. No bullshit, few unobtrusive ads, no tracking, no distractions. Supporting free press.

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#82
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, the NYT that helped justify the US invasion of Iraq based on falsehoods? That NYT? Edit: Explanation - the "I subscribe to the NYT" as a pat response to funding news sources puts far too much power in the NYT's hands, and they've proven to be less than trustworthy in the past.

I can't say if the NYT are villains or not, but if they are, you might have better luck convincing people if your only data point wasn't from literally decades ago

To be fair the war lasted up until a couple of months ago.

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#83
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the industry is stuck in 1995. You want to pay $50/yr [1] for twenty different news websites? All I want to do is read one article. It needs a Spotify / Netflix model. Or the promise of micropayments that never happened. (Yeah, I'll pay 10 cents for an article. And also learn to distrust your site if you shill clickbait.) [1] NYT digital cost

Not disagreeing that a new model is needed, but.. I'm not sure Netflix/Spotify is a good example. In order to access all the content I want, I have to have a zillion streaming accounts with monthly fees. The Netflix model in particular is indistinguishable from the existing pay news model, at least in this regard...

The Spotify model is a great example, though, because all the record labels put their music on basically every music streaming service.

Streaming video, not so much anymore.

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PSA: (National) Newspapers incite rage for clicks and revenue generation, and serve as a propagandizing arm for our beloved 3 letter agencies. Their services are essential for ensuring the success of our neoconservative war hawks in Washington to continue to fund their war machine with hundreds of billions of dollars while neglecting more pressing matters like our nation's crumbling infrastructure and completely unaf…

This doesn't really hold up in a conversation about paywalls. Clickbate generated ad revenues isn't typically from sites funded by subscriptions. Subscriptions actually help fight that.

This isn't really true. Almost every major newspaper posts op ed, letter to the editor, or opinion pieces that are often clickbait. They are okay with it because it gets views, and they can say, "Oh that was just an opinion piece, not our actual views" if it goes sideways.

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#85

PSA: Newspapers educate the public, and their services are essential for the functioning of our democracies. The best newspapers fund their operations through subscriptions, so please help society become well-informed by subscribing to your favorite newspapers.

PSA: (National) Newspapers incite rage for clicks and revenue generation, and serve as a propagandizing arm for our beloved 3 letter agencies. Their services are essential for ensuring the success of our neoconservative war hawks in Washington to continue to fund their war machine with hundreds of billions of dollars while neglecting more pressing matters like our nation's crumbling infrastructure and completely unaf…

it is fine, Biden said all of this will be fixed in the union speech. Like Trudeau in Canada, he says all the right thing, hard to disagree with him... let's see if the action will follow the words. Personally, I am disillusioned with all of this mess, NATO just pushing forward for decades, now we are in this mess and the ukranian people will be used as "chair à canon" and the russian people will be broke to an extent hard to conceive, even for the low tier of poor american people, which I am also sympathetic too. what a mess.

/rant

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#87
post #8

Mixed feelings about this. I hate paywalls because they inhibit sharing and conversation, but... if people don't pay for news, soon there won't be any reporters. People have to make a living somehow.

Plenty of news channels exist fine on YouTube without paywalling all of their content. Also people will just report what's going on because they are interested in it. It doesn't require someone to be a "reporter" to talk about what's going on.

Good. Use those and don't steal from others.

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#89
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, the NYT that helped justify the US invasion of Iraq based on falsehoods? That NYT? Edit: Explanation - the "I subscribe to the NYT" as a pat response to funding news sources puts far too much power in the NYT's hands, and they've proven to be less than trustworthy in the past.

I can't say if the NYT are villains or not, but if they are, you might have better luck convincing people if your only data point wasn't from literally decades ago

In defense of that point - it is probably fair to blame that missreporting for thousands of deaths - not all the deaths of the Iraq War, but a big chunk of them. Don't forget that contemporarily you had an immense amount of well founded skepticism about the true cause of the war which turned out to be quite accurate in retrospect but was decried as unpatriotic at the time. The Iraq War is the first time I personally experience news comedy being a more reliable source than traditional media.

In defense of the NYT, vetting sources is hard and they publish a whole lot of good content.

Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites

#90
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PSA: (National) Newspapers incite rage for clicks and revenue generation, and serve as a propagandizing arm for our beloved 3 letter agencies. Their services are essential for ensuring the success of our neoconservative war hawks in Washington to continue to fund their war machine with hundreds of billions of dollars while neglecting more pressing matters like our nation's crumbling infrastructure and completely unaf…

I completely agree with your "grain of salt" advice. That said, to lean towards well-informed and away from rage and propaganda, I suggest subscribing to long-form periodicals, and avoiding "here's today's list of horrible things that happened in the world" style publications.

I was careful to add "national" newspapers since those are the primary targets of those who seek to propagandize. I find immense value in a local newspaper that informs the citizens of new or upcoming policy changes, development, and other matters that are more likely to directly impact your life. Support your local papers!
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