KCStar to put up "paywall" for digital content on Dec. 5th

[Deberg_1990]

Well.....bye





http://www.kansascity.com/KansasCityStarPlus/




From the publisher
It has a few different names: The metered system, the all-platform-access program, the digital subscription, but mostly folks just call it The Paywall.

Later this year, The Kansas City Star will join hundreds of other news operations in moving to whatever it is you’d like to call it. Essentially, we’re going to charge a little bit for people to get our content, but you’ll be able to access it in a multitude of ways.

So, beginning on Dec. 5, The Star is adding all of our digital subscription products for our home delivery subscribers so that you will be able to enjoy one inclusive print and digital “Star+” subscription package.

Now, I understand that being charged for something that you’ve gotten for free isn’t fun. But providing unlimited access across all platforms for a small amount makes good sense.
This all-access way of packaging our content addresses the new ways people come to us, and provides incredible flexibility for our readers.

Readers will have unlimited access to our suite of digital products, including kansascity.com, e-Star replica edition, mobile sites, digital back-issues and archive databases. This provides subscribers with access on smart phones, tablets, PCs and more.

With e-Star – our digital replica of The Star’s print edition -- articles, photographs, even in-paper ads and crossword puzzles, can be emailed, printed and saved.

I recognize that charging even a few cents more isn’t necessarily popular, but we hope you’ll recognize that it is a logical strategy to enable us to provide quality local news and information in the increasingly myriad ways people reach us.

We are glad more people than ever read The Kansas City Star, as technology continues to enable us to reach more people in more ways. Thank you for reading and for helping us continue to serve and grow in this community, as we have for more than 131 years.
Mi-Ai Parrish

[Deberg_1990]

Wow, the Star is gonna charge paper subscribers an additional fee to access the online content. Money grab!!!





http://www.kcconfidential.com/2012/1...ons/#more-7669




In a letter dated Wednesday November 7th, Chris Christian told with readers they will be automatically charged an additional 69 cents per week for the newspaper’s new E-Star online content. Whether they want it, use it or not.

Put another way, that’s about $36 a year times 183,000 weekday subscribers or a little more than $6.5 million a year.

Kinda puts the 69 cents figure in perspective, huh?
But nowhere in the letter does it specifically point to an opt out path for subscribers.

Which would have been nice since an untold number of the Star‘s aging print readership probably has little if any interest in its new online options.

On top of that, six of the newspaper’s longtime, regular features will now be billed extra to subscribers at the rate of $2 a pop. Features like its “Football Preview” and”Summer Planner” special sections.

Subscribers will be billed even for snoozers like and the “Personal Finance Guide,” “Consumer Technology” and “Kansas City Food” sections.

And of course, who could forget the Thanksgiving Day newspaper. Which the Star explained a couple years back would cost extra because they’d sold so many ads it cost more to print and deliver.

So much for the concept of the ad revenue paying the freight. Now readers have to pay extra to subsidize the advertising content.

Go figure.

As Bill Clinton might say, let’s do the math.

That’s another $2, 200,000 for the “extra” sections that used to be free.

Bringing the grand total of the Star‘s money grab to around $9 million a year.

Again, with no reference to subscribers of how to opt out of any or all of the six special sections.

For the record, subscribers can call the newspaper’s Customer Service Department at 877-962-7826, Monday through Friday between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. and haggle over the added new costs.

[alnorth]

newspaper ads aren't worth a damn. Digital ads on newspaper web sites are worth even less.

The KC Star and other papers are not swimming in gold Scrooge McDuck-style, they are losing money. Really hard to blame them for putting up a paywall, any newspaper which is NOT charging yet, is insane.

[vailpass]

Buncha' cheap bastards

[Valiant]

How exactly d you expect hem to stay a business?

People quit buying the paper for e version, revenue goes down.
Lay off people for cost of business or viewership decline, which in turn creates fewer articles, revenue goes down.

3 bucks a month is too much? I do not know if they have a digital only, but give me a break on the crying.

[dallaschiefsfan]

I don't begrudge them this. It will only buy them a little more time, though. Print and the old print/news business is dead. It's simply not how people get their news anymore and those companies still have far too much overhead to be profitable. Plus the writing is so terrible these days.

Basically, news-collection sites will snippet as much as copyright allows and you'll get the gist of stories. Radio stations will still host shows with the beat writers and we'll get the same info. Twitter/Facebook will still propagate the basics of any pertinent article without anyone needing to pay for it.

[eazyb81]

It blows me away that anyone with a brain would get upset by this.

If you value the content the Star provides, you will pay the monthly subscription. If you don't, you won't pay it. It's that simple. No one has a God-given right to receive free content from newspapers.

[BlackHelicopters]

Business decision. Pure and simple. Star is not in business to give away its' product. What business is?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan

Basically, news-collection sites will snippet as much as copyright allows and you'll get the gist of stories. Radio stations will still host shows with the beat writers and we'll get the same info. Twitter/Facebook will still propagate the basics of any pertinent article without anyone needing to pay for it.

Except that radio is also dying. This whole "we'll still get the news forwarded/retweeted" argument presumes that someone is paying the writers.

There will always be a demand for local news produced by someone with more credibility than a blogger. That demand may or may not be enough to pay for the local writers that currently exist, but online news behind a paywall, in some form, will continue and eventually they will aggressively defend their IP, just like that Las Vegas newspaper which sues every message board which has a story copy-pasted onto it.

National news might always be able to be ad-driven, but when local news becomes one great big scout.com board, people will start paying for it if the price is reasonable.

[Hammock Parties]

Babb left.

**** 'em.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by alnorth

newspaper ads aren't worth a damn. Digital ads on newspaper web sites are worth even less.

The KC Star and other papers are not swimming in gold Scrooge McDuck-style, they are losing money. Really hard to blame them for putting up a paywall, any newspaper which is NOT charging yet, is insane.

That's true, but on the other hand I wouldn't bother paying to read the Star online.

[Mr. Laz]

probably will die

[alpha_omega]

See ya....

however, i will say that i have seen their online edition and it is pretty cool, but no thanks.

[Hoover]

Des Moines Register has a pay wall. I just reset Safari and keep reading.

[cosmo20002]

They should just do what the right-wing "news" sources do--just make stuff up and you don't have to pay nearly as many reporters.


To DC in 3..2..1...

[blaise]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

They should just do what the right-wing "news" sources do--just make stuff up and you don't have to pay nearly as many reporters.


To DC in 3..2..1...

hey, look! An ass wants to bring his DC stuff to the lounge!