Shhhh. Newspaper Publishers Are Quietly Holding a Very, Very Important Conclave Today. Will You Soon

Shhhh. Newspaper Publishers Are Quietly Holding a Very, Very Important Conclave Today. Will You Soon Be Paying for Online Content?

correspondents.theatlantic.com

Here's a story the newspaper industry's upper echelon apparently kept from its anxious newsrooms: A discreet Thursday meeting in Chicago about their future.

"Models to Monetize Content" is the subject of a gathering at a hotel which is actually located in drab and sterile suburban Rosemont, Illinois; slabs of concrete, exhibition halls and mostly chain restaurants, whose prime reason for being is O'Hare International Airport. It's perfect for quickie, in-and-out conclaves.

There's no mention on its website but the Newspaper Association of America, the industry trade group, has a

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
www.guardian.co.uk...

We have all read about news and content to be paid for a through an interview revolving around Rupert Murdoch, he did openly state his intentions and as we all can see the process has already begun.

A brief quote from Mr. Murdoch gives a small glimpse into how the news will be handled.

"The inchoate days of the internet will soon be over," Murdoch pronounced, citing an "epochal" debate in the industry. Having flirted with the idea of turning the Wall Street Journal website free before realising he had bought one of the world's few newspaper sites that makes money, Murdoch has come down in favour of online charging.

correspondents.theatlantic.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

In another article about this on news.com.au:

Mr Murdoch, who has announced plans to charge readers of his publications online, also said "you're going to have to pay for your favourite newspaper on the web''.

The days of free news online were "going to stop,'' he said.

"I believe newspapers will be selling subscriptions on the web,'' he said.

"A (newspaper) website will be vastly improved, much more in them and you'll pay for them.

Source: Future of newspapers is digital: Murdoch

That will be very frustrating - I know how frustrating it is living in Sydney and trying to read the online news from Kentucky (where I'm from). The one major paper in the area charges subscription fees. It's as if all news is in lockdown in that area.



[edit on 28/5/09 by Evasius]

I saw this today and it is worrisome being that the only papers I buy anymore are local weeklies. They are in it for the money so what they are doing is understandable from that point of view but it will change things up dramatically if this comes to pass.

Still, I look for innovations and maybe some online news and analysis journals will actually hire more reporters instead of relying on AP and REUTERS (and this would be a good thing) while still giving free access to their online readers, generating income through online advertising, etc.

What's important is that we need to keep the internet free and not allow them to make it a two and three tiered heavily government regulated industry as the larger news and entertainment corporations have been threatening.

Start telling the truth and their papers will sell.

The internet has enough lies already.

This is not about money. Money is electronically created and distributed amongst the elite.

They just want to control what people are doing, especially how they are being informed (formed, molded, modeled).

Charging for their newspapers is not the goal. The goal is destruction of all free databases on the Internet.

ABOUT two dozen newspaper industry executives huddled yesterday to explore how they might be able to boost profits from their online operations as revenue from their print editions collapses.

The meeting at a Chicago hotel is the latest indication that many newspapers intend to become more aggressive about protecting their Internet content and, in some cases, charging Web surfers to read the material.

By changing the way they do business online, newspaper publishers are hoping they can stop the financial hemorrhaging that already has resulted in massive layoffs, huge losses and at least seven filings for bankruptcy protection since December.

Thursday's meeting was called "Models to Lawfully Monetize Content," according to an agenda obtained by The Associated Press. James Warren, a former managing editor for the Chicago Tribune, reported about the meeting earlier on The Atlantic's Web site.

The meeting was held "to discuss how best to support and preserve the traditions of newsgathering that will serve the American public," according to the Newspaper Association of America, the trade group that organized the gathering. An antitrust lawyer attended the meeting to caution the participants about laws prohibiting collusion or other anticompetitive measures.

www.shanghaidaily.com...

Like it or not, it looks set to happen far quicker than expected, i guess its going to get very ugly and very fast all throughout the internet.

What is the number 1 purpose of a newspaper? To spread the truth? To spread the lies? To shape the opinions of the masses?

Nope.

The #1 purpose of a newspaper is to turn a profit. If they don't turn a profit they won't be able to pay the reporters, the news service they subscribe to, the electric bill that keeps the presses humming.

Newspapers are dying. Everything they have to offer is found for free on the internet. They have to rethink their business model or they will simply cease to exist.

Personally, I think the only strategy that will succeed is if they turn back into hometown newspapers. Focus on the local and they might have a chance. Even that is iffy though.

I hope they do start charging for online content. ATS is building a press corp and we will always be free. If they take this path then in a few years we'll be the biggest site on the internet.

Exciting times, exciting times.....

You know what would be funny? Is if they start to charge for online content, to the point that it is nearly impossible to find any news on the internet for free. Most likely leading to an increase in printed newspapers, because they would probably be cheaper for one day.

Considering that this site and others rely on source links to validate the posts i could possibly see the birth and death of many sites revolving around content usage.

Hi all,

Charge for content and I'll just stay here at ATS.

Imagine if a royalty was expected for quotes? Many people would abandon the old news corporations and rely on user-generated content. I would welcome it and hope that some of these major 'news' organizations fail dramatically and disappear.

Internet savvy peeps would probably migrate over to user generated content (most of us have anyway), while maybe the older generations (I'm 31) would be willing to pay for something that you can find for free on the net anyway.

Short story:

A friend of mine works in a video store here in Oz. She keeps complaining that the only people who rent their range of adult movies were older gentlemen (not that she wants more rentals - they just creep her out) . I guess they're one of the few groups who are willing to pay for something that's free everywhere else.

The internet itself isn't free (although the content technically is) - I pay for my connection. If if was free I wouldn't be getting a bill every month!

Imagine if next year we were charged a flat fee per month for unlimited data, THEN 'one day subscriptions' to sites you visited? All because you signed up for a new internet service and didn't read the fine print?

Flat rate $40.00
Extras
MSN - 56 mins of browsing $5.00
ABC - watched 3 mins of video $.99
BBC - 3 News storys @ .50 each = $1.50
Total $47.49

Microtransactions are awesome!

Thanks
Shane

Indeed those micro transactions are very common in every day life, i guess now it will be more wide spread as micro loans were across india and other nations.

Originally posted by mrwupy
What is the number 1 purpose of a newspaper? To spread the truth? To spread the lies? To shape the opinions of the masses?

Nope.

The #1 purpose of a newspaper is to turn a profit. If they don't turn a profit they won't be able to pay the reporters, the news service they subscribe to, the electric bill that keeps the presses humming.

Newspapers are dying. Everything they have to offer is found for free on the internet. They have to rethink their business model or they will simply cease to exist.

Personally, I think the only strategy that will succeed is if they turn back into hometown newspapers. Focus on the local and they might have a chance. Even that is iffy though.

I hope they do start charging for online content. ATS is building a press corp and we will always be free. If they take this path then in a few years we'll be the biggest site on the internet.

Exciting times, exciting times.....

Do you really think they are sorry for those who were laid off?
Nope.
Manipulation of masses through media is a violent means of establishing authority over people. Same as using batons or fire weapons. It has the same purpose.
Earning money is very secondary to them because they can always replace lack of money with surplus of privileges.
As long as they have police and army, they can do that easily.

So, newspapers are dying. So what? Switch to something else. Switch to Matrix, after all. Why not chip us all and then transmit their will to us through those chips?

This may still be in experimental phase, but not for long.
Also, they use chemicals in the air, in water, in food, in vaccines...
That's where the "money is" right now.

They will certainly aim to destroy the Internet. Once upon time there was iconoclast, nowadays it is internetclast.

Instead of Internet we will soon have loudspeakers in our homes.
Only the newspapers which inform the elite will be price tagged, because only the elite will still need money to distinguish themselves from the rest of the slaves.

The information for us will still be free, but the contents will be decided by the elite.

Who will know the difference?

Krypteia or Crypteia

en.wikipedia.org...

This is basic method of exercising authority. All other forms are just a "translation" of this method.

Young Spartan men who had completed their training at the agoge with such success that they were marked out as potential future leaders, would be given the opportunity to test their skills and prove themselves worthy of the Spartan military tradition through participation in the krypteia.

Every autumn, according to Plutarch (Life of Lycurgus, 28, 3–7), the Spartan ephors (classical Greek Ἔφοροι) would pro forma declare war on the helot population so that any Spartan citizen could kill a helot without fear of blood guilt. Unarmed, the kryptes were sent out into the countryside with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered at night and to take any food they needed.

This could be used to remove any helots considered troublesome and provide the young men with a manhood test and experience of their first kill. Such brutal oppression of the helots permitted the Spartans to control the agrarian population and devote themselves to military practice. It may also have contributed to the Spartans' reputation for stealth.

Now, some may think that this is extreme. It is not. It is just the essence, no buffers, that's all.

If mass media suffer a defeat, become obsolete, as they seem to be right now, they will resort to rougher methods of informing people. Money itself is the means to control people. Money is something the state guarantees for, and state can always withdraw its guarantee, so you can kiss your money if that happens. It's not really yours and it doesn't have innate value. Its value has to be confirmed by state.

And, as the newspapers became electronic, so the money became electronic. The whole cyberspace needs to be reevaluated. It's just that it happened too fast for the elite to establish full control, but they still have to do it and they will, eventually.

Before that happens, we will need some new form of communication, or else we're doomed, we go back to the dark ages.





[edit on 29-5-2009 by DangerDeath]

You know, if this comes about I'll just give up reading the news.
The only news that effects my life in an immediate way is locally anyway.

I feel I've spent my time wisely getting my online education into how corrupt all governments are, I know who the puppeteers are.
What else is there that a person like Murdoch could possibly telling me after learning all this?

It'll all be spin anyway. Who wants to spend all that money on spin?

I think Murdoch will find his newspapers will go the same way as the Music industry.
When people have gotten something for free for so long, they won't start paying for it.

I guess he has to learn that the hard way.

reply to post by Flighty


Do you remember Digital T.V. that everyone needs to do away with their old sets or purchase a coder to adapt to your older model. The same things is happening throughout Europe without any exceptions.

Does the method seem familiarat all ?. What once was considered free for all is slowly being changed into a pay per view issue. Worst case scenario, your newly purchased digital television will have internet access, all movies, sports, documentary's and news will be provided for a small fee however you would be fed what "I" would like to feed you.

So many people a screaming about freedom and the constitution or paragraphs that they fail to see the huge leaps which will do away with any opposing voices or ideals.

Small nibbles and bites from the surrounding environment which supports the idea of freedom will eventually do away with any remaining voices opposing your agenda within a sustainable time line.

Originally posted by mrwupy
The #1 purpose of a newspaper is to turn a profit.

How warped. Amazing how the propaganda of a economic theory can colour ever aspect of a worldview.

The #1 purpose of a newspaper is not to "turn a profit". That's the #1 purpose of a newspaper publishing company in a capitalist economic system.

We're all probably going to be offered a 2 or 3 pound 'news opt in' charge on your monthly subscriptions, that will then get you access to the major news sites, then maybe your IP is monitored automatically to see how that bit of money is divided between the various players.

If I was at that meeting and it was my job to come up with the ideas I would of thought that one to be easiest.

Not a good sign though

who cares, a they just recycle what they get from the wires and each other anyway. there is very little that is original content on any of the news web sites so as long as the BBC and the wires are free, the big news corporations don't matter.

reply to post by Now_Then


There are millions of way's to track the habits of online users, just a brief look into your browsers cookies and you will see what has been installed and have an expire date which far exceeds your natural life expectancy.

How do you think all these online advertising services maintain themselves.