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Won’t Subscribe

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Re: Won’t Subscribe

#181

Post by dcminter »

mnky9800n wrote: post #133

What's strange is it used to be you would pick up a newspaper at a stand for the day, pay a dollar or whatever, and then have quite a lot of articles to read for that day. But now, it is impossible, the only way is to lock-in. And that may be for the rest of your life if the complaints about the labirynth you may navigate to unsubscribe the nytimes is to be believed. If there was some sort of daily access pass that d…

You can buy a single issue of The Economist as a Kindle magazine. But they don't make it easy for you.

If they did I'd do it more often.

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#182

Post by vbsteven »

toyg wrote: post #120
saagarjha wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But people don’t pay for apps.

Somebody tell Apple then!

I feel the situation with mobile app pricing is similar to what Tim describes for news publishers. Most apps seem to be free to download and use with limited functionality and then use scammy advertising tactics to get you to buy a subscription to unlock the full content.

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#183

Post by 082349872349872 »

boulos wrote: post #68

Ezra Klein’s interview with Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post (formerly of the Buffalo news) included a lot of discussion on the economics of media and news [1]. Her conclusion is that historically the local newspaper(s) had a monopoly on advertising. That advertising shifted to national ad campaigns on television, national papers (so her transition from Buffalo is highly relevant), and finally online advertis…

If a public good is technically difficult for the private sector to produce, that still leaves the option of the public sector, or of individual households?

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#184

Post by toyg »

goliatone wrote: post #96
toyg wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't have to be a XOR. I know of at least one minor newspaper that sells that kind of pass (1-month non-renewing sub) as well as other subscriptions: https://ilmanifesto.it/tariffe/ It's Italian but the table is easy enough to decipher. "Mese" is a month. "Digitale" is digital (duh). "Coupon" is a scheme where they send you vouchers to redeem the newspaper in shops, and is extremely popular among their readersh…

Thanks for the link! Would you mind recommending any radio stations with good online presence? I haven’t been lucky searching online

In Italian, for news, or both?

I'm not a big listener, but when I want a shot of Italian music I do "Hey Google, Radio Italia Anni 60" - despite the name, they actually play anything Italian from any age, including the last couple of years, and they have their own app so no TuneIn shenanigans for us expats. I used to listen to Lattemiele but it's gone downhill some time ago, too much talk for my taste now.

I don't really listen to Italian radio for news, just follow a few podcasts like this: https://www.spreaker.com/show/qui-un-tempo

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#185

Post by sokoloff »

davidhyde wrote: post #136

If a newspaper is already subjective then they could make money by charging companies to write articles on topics that would influence public opinion to their benefit. That is not a serious suggestion btw ;)

Do you think this is not happening already?

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#186

Post by jmkd »

ako wrote: post #126
boplicity wrote: post #19

As a long-time publisher, there is only one primary metric that matters to me: loyal readers. I don't publish for the occasional visitor. I publish for the loyal readers that I have worked hard to cultivate, engage, and enrichen. The primary work is one of building a relationship with a loyal readership, based on consistency and quality. Our websites, as they're designed, are probably a little annoying to people who…

As a publisher maybe it is time to rethink your primary metric. As a long-time reader, i'm not interesting in being a loyal reader, i'm interested in reading the best news. I don't limit myself to the music of one band, so i really appreciate spotify, and i don't limit myself to the news of one publisher.

This. Many readers enjoy gaining multiple perspectives on the same news story from which to draw their own conclusions. This behaviour is scarcely catered for today.

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#187

Post by kyrers »

Kosirich wrote: post #178

What the author didn't mention explicitly is the obvious sludge techniques used in media subscription models. ( https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclope... ) In case of The Economist, to which I'm subscribed, you have to call them...on a phone...like it's the 80s The worst offender of the type is scribed.com that has a fake "we're sorry to see you leave" page before you actually hit the final "yes…

The calling to unsubscribe always gets me. How does this still happen in 2020?

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#188

Post by pjc50 »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #161
pjc50 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have another problem that bad actors in our society are paying for misinformation to be spread in order to warp people's political perceptions. > Define a journalist as someone who makes their entire living from selling articles Where does https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/oct/03/daily-teleg... fit into this model?

Good question :) I guess he's writing an opinion column though? I don't read the Torygraph so I haven't read his column. Opinion columns, as always, are not journalism.

> Opinion columns, as always, are not journalism

... I don't think this is a widely held view, and they're both big money makers and very popular.

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#189

Post by paranoidrobot »

kyrers wrote: post #187
Kosirich wrote: post #178

What the author didn't mention explicitly is the obvious sludge techniques used in media subscription models. ( https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclope... ) In case of The Economist, to which I'm subscribed, you have to call them...on a phone...like it's the 80s The worst offender of the type is scribed.com that has a fake "we're sorry to see you leave" page before you actually hit the final "yes…

The calling to unsubscribe always gets me. How does this still happen in 2020?

Because someone figured out that hiring one person on minimum wage to handle a phone queue results in them retaining more people than providing a nice and easy unsubscribe option.

Re: Won’t Subscribe

#190

Post by sokoloff »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #129
erik_seaberg wrote: post #63

Newspaper delivery is notorious for making it as hard as possible to unsubscribe, does this happen online or does the threat of a chargeback keep them in line?

I had a subscription to one of the papers listed in the article. I could sign up online, but there was no way to unsubscribe. I explored all corners of their website, including links that promised unsubscription options but never led to any. They did offer me to sign up for another subscription if I wanted to give one as a gift. They did provide an email address. I sent an email and was told to call a specific number…

For more than a year, I googled Blue Apron (or Plated or Hello Fresh), carefully clicked on Blue Apron’s paid ad, went to the site and cancelled my next few orders because they didn’t offer an online subscription cancellation. (They had a page that would do it, but it wasn’t linked in the nav.)

Once they linked it in the nav, I happily cancelled properly.

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