Are Paid Online Subscriptions Bound to Take Off?

[Rob Williams]

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that real newspapers (as in, made of paper) are dying off in huge numbers. Over the years, there's been many popular and well-known newspapers that have shut down, and that happening was inevitable once the Internet became popular. I still believe that newspapers have their place, but I'm sure many wouldn't argue that most often, it's just far more convenient to read the news on a PC. Not to mention, you can't get late-breaking news via a newspaper, as you can online.

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You can read the rest of our news post here.

 

[Kougar]

It works for the WSJ given they have some of the best articles on daily subjects that I've seen. They usually cover the subject from every angle and include both sides of the story, in addition to actual in-depth analysis from plenty of research behind the actual quotes/interviews/words. It's the only paper I'm willing to pay for (the local paper is laughably shallow whenever they cover the same content by comparison)

Paid online news subscritions can work... but the news has to be more than just a cut above all the rest for it to work given the closest competitor is just a search box away. They can't just report the news, they have to both research and analyze it like the Wall Street Journal does.