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.
Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
81–90 of 246 posts
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#82Earlier 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
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#83Earlier 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...
Streaming video, not so much anymore.
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#84Earlier 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.
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#85PSA: 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…
/rant
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#86People don't like ads. People don't like paywalls. People want everyone else to do things for free. How will that work?
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#87Mixed 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.
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#88This is cool, but how is it different from piracy?
Re: Bypass Paywalls: a browser extension to help bypass paywalls for selected sites
#89Earlier 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 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
#90Earlier 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.