Here is another story of how the print media are planning yet again to charge for online content. Blah, blah, blah! The problem for them is that this is a global market, I can get my news from the UK, Germany, MSNBC, Fox News, etc. I don’t need to read the NY Times or Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to find out what’s going on in the world, there are so many other places I can go. If one or multiple sites start charging for content, I can find many more that are not.
I think the print media needs to hire a business consultant who could teach them the concept of value added. If they find something that other media can’t deliver, I might be tempted to pay. Case in point, Hugh Hewitt has been giving his podcast away for free for years. He hooked his customers on his radio show and now he’s charging for the podcast. I’m hooked, it has become a part of my day. He’s even sweetened the deal by giving a $20 discount until the end of September. He reels me in before I decide I don’t really need the podcast.