On the wrong side of the paywall
Day One on the wrong side of a local paywall; I am deeply confused about what to do. Although I respect the right of any firm to sell its product, is local news something that belongs to the firm, or to the people at large? Without us, can they exist? Shouldn’t they be paying me, should it be necessary for money to change hands?
You see, we live in a very small market for news. Why, just beyond the shoreline, nobody really cares if we have a snow day, or a government scandal or a fortunate lottery winner. I now have to decide if “three stories a month” will suffice. Turning to local radio requires a time-based discipline; the “top of the hour”. Online news is there for consumption whenever I feel the need, and although I haven’t read the finer print of the offer, I imagine I can read something more than once, to improve comprehension.
Perhaps I’ll slide along, and when I find that my three articles have gone by too quickly, I can jump to the subscription form, assuring continuity. But what if there’s no news after that? What if the world around me goes into hibernation, as the planting season begins and the fishers of my world bait their traps. No, impossible. We have an election in the offing, and that should generate enough ledes to feed my fevered mind.
In that case, I salute the timing of the firm. Will they throw in both local newspapers, for the single price? That would be awesome! And I can save my paper recycling for the shopping flyers that I don’t use, in any case. No budgies. No budget.
