Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

The WaPo Paywall Finally Did Me In

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Well, I did it. I signed up for an online subscription to the Washington Post. I held out as long as I could, but I finally concluded that I can’t do an adequate job blogging about statewide public policy without having access to the Post‘s local and regional reporting — the most recent case in point being an article (which I will blog about shortly) regarding the decision by the Washington Metro to cut the size of its governing board.

I subscribe to the Richmond Times-Dispatch as my home-town newspaper, which I get in both print and online formats. I’ve been self-rationing my access to the Post, which for a considerable time allowed non-paying readers access to 10 views per month. Now, the newspaper has tightened the paywall even more to three free views per month. That broke me. But I’m still holding out against the Virginian-Pilot, which limits readers to three free views monthly. As long as I can get  Hampton Roads news via the Newport News-based Daily Press, I refuse to buckle. Of course, that option may soon disappear now that the Pilot and the Daily Press share common ownership. Newspaper pay walls elsewhere in the state are not yet an issue for me.

The newspapers may wear me down. Of course, I consume state/local news to make a living and I have no choice. But I wonder how many other readers are responding like I do. I’m curious about the online newspaper-subscribing habits of Bacon’s Rebellion readers. How many online publications do you subscribe to — and to which ones?

Finally, I’m curious if anyone would pay a premium — say a $25 per month subscription — for a service that allowed them access to all Virginia newspapers. Could there be a business opportunity for someone who can negotiate discounts  from newspapers in exchange for delivering readers in bulk?

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4 responses to “The WaPo Paywall Finally Did Me In”

  1. V N Avatar
    V N

    The VP’s depth of investigative reporting is gone. I could give you examples to publish on the blog. I can give you some of the idea over the years of the DP.
    I pay for this blog and would end up paying more in a few months because the writing is so much better. Same for VCOG.
    Southside Daily is another one I support, but it is VB and now and then Norfolk. Won’t touch Chesapeak.
    AlJazerra does great investigative reporting. I look at a few other foreign papers that do a lot better reporting than the drivel currently out there. In addition, I’ve seen stories that are buried that should have been reported or reported in a more non biased way.

  2. jalbertbowden Avatar
    jalbertbowden

    With the exception of a very few outlets, most of these “paywalls” can be easily subverted with the most minimal of tricks.
    VP/DP/RTD paywalls work around is to open an new browser window in incognito mode.
    WP steps up their game a bit, and the easiest solution I’ve found on mobile is to use multiple browsers, and sometimes under incognito mode. Although I don’t think Brave browser offers one, because it blocks most invasive technologies by default.

    This is a tricky subject because I want to support 4th estate, but in all of these contexts, they are not supporting us.
    Paying for any of these services doesn’t give you access without advertisements. The sites still track everything you do, in the most obtrusive and hostile ways possible to end-users.
    Paying for WP? Try opening a link on your phone…does it open in the app?

    Basically my point is, then what are we paying for?
    Yes, pay for journalism….that is not what this is.
    Media is making money, they have just been infiltrated by vulture capitalism. TRONC and the like are only here to bleed papers until they are dry.
    Your money goes to some hedge fund managers vacation account, not in the pockets of the fine people walking and reporting on these beats.
    And if you are a paying customer, you are still subjected to surveillance tracking. Furthermore, it actually costs you more because these sites are absolute garbage to load (see surveillance tracking implementations), and you end up spending data on a) stuff not necessary to get/view/consume content b) spending data on stuff enabling them to track you.

    This is truly a horrible situation to be in. I do not see it getting very much better anytime soon.

    That said, I am incredibly excited about Virginia Mercury and what they are going to be doing with FOIA and our elected officials.

    I would pay for an aggregate service, but only if it an aggregate service and nothing else. As I keep pointing out, these sites are hostile to users, so why would I pay to be abused?

  3. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    Services like Lexis-Nexis used to provide broad access to multiple national publications. When I worked for the state 20 years ago I used that. I don’t know why nobody has found a pooled payment system for news content similar to that used for music (or now streamed movies and TV for that matter.) Post and TD are my only paid subscriptions. I spend a lot of time on Real Clear Politics but the walls are getting annoying there.

  4. Andrew Roesell Avatar
    Andrew Roesell

    Dear Jim,

    Not one penny from my depleted coffers! I would write Mr. Bezos and ask him if he would give you a free subscription. He can afford it. What, $141 billion or something? ;-))<

    Sincerely,

    Andrew

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