Poll: Who pays for their news?

[Mr._Graybeard]

The thread about crap writing got me wondering how many forum members pay to support a news source. I spent over 30 years working in daily newspaper journalism, and I see the industry as on the verge of death. COVID-19 probably knocked 25% out of an already shrinking revenue stream. A small-city daily paper in my area recently laid off its managing editor; she had worked there for 41 years.

DW and I have paid subscriptions to two local newspapers, a regional (statewide) paper and a national news source. I consider it money well spent. How about you?

 

[Gotadimple]

If you make this a poll, you may get a better response.

Yes, I do pay for news sources (printed and electronic).

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

If you make this a poll, you may get a better response.

Yes, I do pay for news sources (printed and electronic).

Working on it ... done!

 

[aja8888]

We don't pay for any printed news media as the "news" in them are already old news.

 

[MichaelB]

We subscribe to online versions of print media for local, national and international news and current affairs.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I couldn’t vote for more than one but while I voted for paying for my local newspaper website, I also pay for a subscription to a major city paper’s electronic version. The local rag is pretty poor, in both senses of the word, but I feel it’s important to keep them going.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We don't pay for any printed news media as the "news" in them are already old news.

One of my local papers is a weekly, so its news is generally days old, but nobody else is covering my school board and the police blotter. My school district gets the biggest piece of my tax dollar.

 

[Gumby]

Not a poll option, but I subscribe to the electronic versions of both my local paper, the Connecticut Post, and the New York Times.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I couldn’t vote for more than one but while I voted for paying for my local newspaper website, I also pay for a subscription to a major city paper’s electronic version. The local rag is pretty poor, in both senses of the word, but I feel it’s important to keep them going.

Oops, sorry. I'm new to this poll business.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Not a poll option, but I subscribe to the electronic versions of both my local paper, the Connecticut Post, and the New York Times.

Gumby, I didn't see a means to allow more than one affirmative in the poll. Is there any way to do so?

 

[braumeister]

Oops, sorry. I'm new to this poll business.

Don't feel bad; nobody ever includes enough options to please everyone.

Also, many don't realize that it's possible to set it so people can choose multiple options rather than just one.

 

[JoeWras]

I don't currently pay. I used to get the newspaper but stopped when they started exhibiting significant bias of omission. After seeing events in person that were not covered, I was dumbfounded.

One could say people like me are part of the problem since we aren't paying salaries. But how can I support such a defective product?

 

[Jerry1]

I chose that I don't pay for any news, but I'm considering paying for my local news. The local news papers recently changed their online material to be partially subscription. Of course, I'm finding the articles I want to read are behind the subscription wall.

We have two main news papers here. They actually share print and distribution services. However, I'd need a subscription to both to read both. If they allowed for a discounted combined subscription, I might be quicker to consider it. I like reading both because one swings right and the other left, so there's balance in looking at both.

 

[Montecfo]

I subscribe to a local paper plus The Wall Street Journal and Barron's.

 

[aja8888]

One of my local papers is a weekly, so its news is generally days old, but nobody else is covering my school board and the police blotter. My school district gets the biggest piece of my tax dollar.

I forgot to mention....I have a limited *free* subscription to my hometown online newspaper (Waterbury Connecticut Republican-American) and occasionally sign on to check the obituaries to see if anyone I knew or worked with passed away. I also can read 5 articles a month with the free subscription.

 

[stepford]

I use to mostly scam my way past paywalls to get my news for free. About 4 years ago I realized that conventional news was in danger of being supplanted by new "curated" news feeds and decided to pay full subscription rates to my chosen newspaper as a kind of "democracy tax". I expect to do that for the rest of days.

 

[OldShooter]

We subscribe to our city's paper and to The Economist. Both provide hard copy and online access.

DW subscribes to the online WaPo and NYT I think. I piggy back on her WaPo subscription but that's enough liberal bias for me. It is third on my morning reading list after Reuters and Google News. The local paper is fourth.

 

[mitchjav]

Yes - I pay for WSJ subscription and for the local newspaper of the region I'll be moving into in the Spring

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I forgot to mention....I have a limited *free* subscription to my hometown online newspaper (Waterbury Connecticut Republican-American) and occasionally sign on to check the obituaries to see if anyone I knew or worked with passed away. I also can read 5 articles a month with the free subscription.

That's an interesting newspaper. Family ownership is becoming a rarity. The last four family-owned daily papers in my state sold out to a chain last year, including the one where the ME has been laid off. Gannett, Lee and Adams bring the news to Wisconsin now.

 

[Car-Guy]

No way I'd pay for it.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I don't currently pay. I used to get the newspaper but stopped when they started exhibiting significant bias of omission. After seeing events in person that were not covered, I was dumbfounded.

One could say people like me are part of the problem since we aren't paying salaries. But how can I support such a defective product?

The newspaper where I spent most of my career enjoyed what the marketing department described as "deep penetration." They were happy about that (I was too). It also had a lively AM talk radio market that (surprise) had a conservative tilt. Inevitably the radio hosts would come up with an outrage du jour that prompted a flood of phone calls. When we missed something, boy, did we hear about it.

The point I'm trying to make is that journalism can be an interactive process. We certainly followed up on stuff readers called in. But, as readership dwindles ...

I'd love to have you PM me on the instances where you felt the newspaper fell short. I spent quite a few years in midlevel newsroom management, so I know how the sausage is made.

 

[2017ish]

I would answer "yes" to the poll, but can't.

We pay for hard copy and digital WSJ, as well as a digital subscription to the Nashville Gannett publication.

 

[Mmm Rrr]

My ex has given me his "bonus" digital subscription to the NYT for the past 15 years. I really enjoy it, and if my free access ever goes away, I think I would actually pay for it myself!

 

[KB]

I get the local newspaper online, it's actually the state capitol newspaper. I also get two National newspapers online only. Those will be cancelled at some point leaving me with the local only.

 

[W2R]

I don't pay for news any more.

If we had a local newspaper, I'd pay for it. However it went out of business several years ago, and was bought out by an outsider; now all they have is a website, and they fired all their journalists so "stories" are submitted by unpaid amateurs. Very unprofessional. The printed version is 99% ads, delivered free to every single house along with other junk ads. So, I don't subscribe to a local paper because that is not a choice here.

I don't listen to network news any more, either. It's not that I am too cheap to pay for news (almost?) but more like I haven't found any news source that I feel is worth [-]the powder to blow them to h***[/-] listening to regularly, much less paying for. Big news stories filter down to me anyway, somehow.