Cronky Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I have just been on the Isle of Man Today website and found that to read an article I now have to 'register' for Premium Content Subscription. Look further into the website and you find that is is owned by a UK company - registered and have a Premium Content Subscription. So, you agree to be be bound by UK laws whilst living in the Isle of Man. I don't propose to give them any money or 'register' my details with them. It's an intrusive attitude. Is there anyone else out there who would pay to view local news stories on the web? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Tried to click on the subscribe page - to see the prices. It's borked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 This one? http://www.iomtoday.co.im/ I seem to be able to read news articles fine without having to do anything. Can you post links to what you have to register for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I assume you mean iomtoday.co.im. I don't seem to be having the problem (in the UK today) and can see the news stories. Can you give an example link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I also dont have any problems viewing any of the news stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooWoo Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I am now able to view the site! Looks like they've either thought twice about the 'subscription' or they have fixed whatever problem they had Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted June 23, 2007 Author Share Posted June 23, 2007 Curious. Early in the day it was not possible to log on to: IOM Today without registering. I have just clicked on the same and it is back to normal.. I hope this was a glitch and that we are not beng lined up for 'pay per view' for local news. I notice there is an alternative news source these days in the form of the Manx Herald Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahc Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Who is writing the Manx Herald? Some mysterious 'editor' and some random bloke called 'chas' with a manx.net address as far as I can see. Gives me great faith in their stories that does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTrellisfromNorthWales Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 The biggest problem in journalism today is that nobody's found a way of making money from news on the internet. Meanwhile, newspaper circulations are declining and advertising is migrating to the web, so putting news content on the web (which is normally copy and pasted from the papers) is arguably counterproductive for newspapers and commercial broadcasters. Advertising rates on the internet are minuscule compared with newspapers and radio/tv spots. Meanwhile, the press's traditional money spinners, classified ads and job ads, are going to places such as E-bay, which has no journalism, or other specialist job sites. The question is who's going to pay the journalists' wages in the future? Of course, people scoff at journalists because it's trendy to do so. But how do you really find out about things? Without the traditional media, there'd be nobody sitting in courts or in Tynwald reporting on what's going on. How would you find out your taxes were rising or that your next door neighbour had murdered his wife? All we'd get is a load of me-too ranting blogs. And that would be no substitute. The BBC is, of course, immune to this problem because of the licence fee. About 15 per cent of news visits to the internet in the UK go to the BBC. Nobody else gets much more than 1 per cent. A few specialist publications such as the Financial Times are the only glimmers of hope in persuading people to subscribe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumble Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Very good points Mrs T, and very well put across. Of course, in the Isle of Man the national broadcaster is government grant-aided, and the papers get an equivalent sum for statutory advertising, but purely commercial publishers and broadcasters worldwide must wonder what benefits they can squeeze out of web efforts to offset these lost revenues. Trouble is, we've always perceived the internet as 'free'. Free of censorship, free content, freedom to post. But in business there's no such thing as a free lunch, and I think a lot of sites are looking now at how to generate some revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 But how do you really find out about things? Without the traditional media, there'd be nobody sitting in courts or in Tynwald reporting on what's going on. How would you find out your taxes were rising or that your next door neighbour had murdered his wife? Copycat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Peters Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I think Mrs Trellis is talking REAL news Declan, reported in a legally and morally responsible manner, rather than the fevered musings of MCB and his troupe of sock puppets and/or other acolytes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 The biggest problem in journalism today is that nobody's found a way of making money from news on the internet. You're completely incorrect. The nationals now put all of their content online, and there's many thousands of news sites making money on the internet, I visit many of them daily. In the main, they make their money on advertising, same as the regular old paper newspapers do. Your newspaper costs a lot more than 40p to print, the papers are mostly paid for by advertising, and it's no different on the net. Meanwhile, newspaper circulations are declining and advertising is migrating to the web, so putting news content on the web (which is normally copy and pasted from the papers) is arguably counterproductive for newspapers and commercial broadcasters. Not at all. The nationals worked out quite quickly that the sell through and targetted advertising on the web is very lucrative indeed, it's in no way counterproductive to put your content online. Advertising rates on the internet are minuscule compared with newspapers and radio/tv spots. Meanwhile, the press's traditional money spinners, classified ads and job ads, are going to places such as E-bay, which has no journalism, or other specialist job sites. That might be true, but while you can't charge huge money for spots, you can begin to do targetted and multimedia advertising which can be more effective. The question is who's going to pay the journalists' wages in the future? Of course, people scoff at journalists because it's trendy to do so. But how do you really find out about things? The advertisers, same as ever. Apart from the beeb of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTrellisfromNorthWales Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Slim, you're simply wrong. Nobody's making serious money from news on the net. But lots of journalists are losing their jobs. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/NEWS/200...70531manc.shtml The reason the nationals put their content online is not because they're making money from it but that they're scared. They're hoping somehow that the market will grow and become "monetised" as they put it. And if they didn't everyone would turn to the BBC anyway. They also believe that it's about expansion of "the brand". They're turning to "convergence", which is journalists doing work for newspapers, the net and possibly broadcasters too. This is really about sweating assets better. However, the reason they're doing it is that the traditional sources of income are drying up and newspaper companies are experimenting with trying to make money on the net. None has done it very successfully yet. Multimedia (that word is a tautology, it should be multimedium) strategies are a band aid - making the best of a bad job. At the moment, newspaper income from traditional sources is still subsidising web operations. Indeed, as I mentioned, the real cash cows are the worst hit. Classified advertising is going to ebay and it will go to Craig's List once it's really hit Britain. The marketing director of a large newspaper company told me that the change in the rate of migration of job ads to the net in the last six months was "seismic". That revenue went, in part, on journalists' salaries in the past. Now it doesn't. It's not just a newspaper pheonemon, either. Television audiences are splintering because of extra choice, but overall viewing is down considerably because of the internet. Younger television viewers watch far less television now than the same age groups 10 years ago. I'm doing an MA on this. Can you tell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragmatopian Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I'm with Slim. People have never paid much directly for their general news content. At best, the cover price of a newspaper may cover some of the distribution costs. In the online world, these costs are considerably lower. The advertising landscape is certainly different in the online world. The good sites can focus adverts for products and services that are more likely to be of interest to specific readers: everybody wins. By using a service like Google AdWords to take the hassle out of managing advertising, the news organization can concern itself solely with generating compelling content which, after all, is what will ultimately drive up readership and increase advertising revenues. The game inevitably changes over time - newspapers need to adapt to it or perish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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