San Jose Mercury News: No One Reads Us Any More, So Let's Start Charging
from the this-will-end-poorly dept
When I first moved to Silicon Valley, the newspaper of record was the San Jose Mercury News. Everyone read it. It did a great job covering the local startup scene, and had some fantastic columnists and writers. But, one by one, those top notch writers left for greener pastures or to start their own things (such as Matt Marshall starting VentureBeat, which came out of the experimental Silicon Beat that he and Michael Bazely created while at the Merc). Then, of course, Knight Ridder came under all sorts of Wall St. pressure and got sold (and some of the papers then were quickly sold again). In the last few years, there's been fewer and fewer reasons to actually read the Merc, and I haven't looked at the paper (or the website) in probably a year or two. That's quite amazing since it used to be one of my first stops every morning. But, these days, all of the news that I used to get from the Merc can be found online from better sources with better writers. Back in March, I was on a panel discussion with a business editor from the Merc, and he and I got into a somewhat heated discussion on the wisdom of charging for news online. I told him that it made no sense, and he insisted that it could work. Apparently, he knew what was coming.Media News, the current owner of the Merc, has announced that it's now going to start charging for online access to the paper, which seems like a move destined to fail dismally (and quickly). Already it's difficult to come up with any good reason to read the Merc online when it's free, and suddenly they want people to pay for it? All of the info that the paper provides is better provided elsewhere. It's difficult to see how they think that any significant number of people will actually pay to subscribe to the online version that's a tiny shell of what was once a great newspaper.
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Filed Under: charging, newspapers
Companies: media news, san jose mercury news
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they don't understand econ 101
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the Merc isn't working for us we have X amount of readers if we charge them then the paper could be worth keeping, if not we might as well shut it down.
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Irony!
TechDirt.
TechDirt is beating a small handful of drums these days.
Multiple times per day.
It's getting to be a broken record.
1. Free. Blah, blah, blah.
2. Newpspapers are hopeless.
3. Copyright.
Surely there are many other things in the world of
business that could picked apart. Aren't there?
1. Product quality?
2. Product safety?
3. Mistakes companies make?
The mistakes of globalization? The unfairness of
globalization (production can freely move, but
workers cannot, for example).
Better watch out TechDirt, or maybe a more innovative
website in the near future will be writing your
obituary on a daily basis, much as you enjoy doing
for your favorite topics.
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lol what?
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Re: Irony!
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Re: Irony!
All that said, in this really very small case, I do agree that declining free readership is not a good sign for the Merc in this endeavor. The critical mass in this microcosm may have been lost long ago. This is precisely the challenge that the free web model has created for so many good media organizations: the siphoning of money over the last 10 years to create a free online presence which gives away costly-to-create content has deeply contributed to the financial problems of these for-profit organizations. While it would be great to have an advertising-supported free model forever, the fact is that it has shown to be unreliable, at best - as all digital advertising is - and tragically faulty at worst. We are now in the "worst" phase.
But we get it: TechDirt thinks anything not free is folly. While this flows nicely with the socialism-of-the-moment we're experiencing (and note the small "s"...I'm intending that to be an business-government economics statement, not a political one), it really ignores the fundamental problems for so many businesses, especially media: it costs money to create and distribute stuff.
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Re: they don't understand econ 101
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RE: Irony
Not sure what you're getting at here, since this isn't really a good example of what you guys are "complaining" about. The article is about a newspaper (a business) that isn't doing so well with what they're currently charging for their paper (a product), so now they want to increase the prices (and decrease demand). This almost has nothing to do with "free" or "copyrights" or anything of that sort. It's an example of a newspaper thinking that they can do whatever they want with their product, and their readers/customers will just take it.
It may come as shock, but badly run companies don't do well in the long-term. Newspapers are no different. It really has nothing to do with socialism, politics, or anything of that sort. Badly run businesses just don't tend to do well.
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Re: Irony!
Techdirt is among the best commentaries on issues concerning "free", "copyright", and the dangers facing legacy business models. Mike seems to know who his community is and offers content that provokes and encourages discussion.
Tbh, the above issues cover alot of ground, even if they are "a small handful of drums."
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Re: RE: Irony
Agreed that poorly run companies will not survive. And for the Mercury News, that may been the beginning and end of the issue. The broader question is not about a poorly run company, but a sea change for a whole (and very large and very ancient) industry. And I disagree that this isn't about "free": this posting is yet another of TechDirt's "free is best, pay is stupid" rants, so it has everything to do with "free." In this case, in order to make the "pay is stupid" point, the Merc is used as an example. A rather good one, I admit. The position may not be incorrect, but because of the specific situation of a relatively small paper with a tumultuous recent past, rather than pay being evil.
And @David T., TechDirt does foster some interesting commentaries, but the view point it delivers in its original postings is ALWAYS "free is best, pay is stupid" and, increasingly, "copyright is multi-generational theft." Academically, I find these discussions to be interesting, yes. But they are increasingly out of step with the real, for-profit, complicated world in which actual businesses and artists and content producers live.
All that said, I have no "problem" with TechDirt taking its "free-ist" point of view and I will continue to read the site and be largely annoyed, regularly frustrated, occasionally surprised and less occasionally convinced to change my own thinking. I will continue to occasionally call this out and see what, if any reaction/response/refutation I get. I take this as pretty much an intellectual exercise, since its applicability to the real world in its present circumstance is rather (and increasingly) limited.
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Re: Irony!
Yea I agree Techdirt can be like a broken record, but when I want to know what is happening with poor business models and antiquated laws I know where to go. Techdirt typically links to articles and people the the comments section usually set the record straight when the authors go out of bounds with their wild claims that we should all wear fig leaves, love each other, and give everything for free.
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Re: Re: RE: Irony
"But they are increasingly out of step with the real, for-profit, complicated world in which actual businesses and artists and content producers live."
That's the exact point that Techdirt is trying to make. These content producers don't live in reality any more. The market is taking a different path than what they want and they refuse to accept it. And I don't think it needs to be as complicated as we make it.
And the main reason, I think, that Techdirt is focusing on these kinds of things is because there is nothing else. This entire planet is turning into a whiny tight ass ball of crap. Everyone thinks that they are entitled to getting rich even though they didn't do anything. Thus it turns into a sue-first-and-ask-questions-later society. Good reporting can only work with what is given. Bad reporting gets to make shit up.
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Re: RE: Irony
and the like. Instead it was pointing out what, I thought,
was irony.
Mike was bemoaning the fact that one of his favorite
papers was no longer his favorite, and is now going
down the route which will likely spell doom.
This mirrors my feelings about TechDirt. I've been reading
since 2002 or so and have become less an less thrilled
with the content as it becomes narrower and narrower.
The writing is pretty good, though there are many phrases
that are overused. The trend I see is that the content
is becoming too focused on too few topics.
Overall, Techdirt is not a bad site. I just wish they
would find a few new vamps to play once in a while.
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Re: Re: RE: Irony
I don't agree with this (condescending) assessment, and I feel this kind of dismessivness is the reason so many powerful trade groups are now failing.
My feelings are that the current business environment is undergoing creative destruction to move towards "free is better," infinite goods economics. Techdirt and its readers tend to be ahead of the curve when it comes to technology issues (as I judge from reading user comments) and can see the counter-productive limitations inherent in patent and copyright law designed for an era past.
Techdirt makes real-world predictions that will be proven true or false in the free marketplace over the next decade and lets people talk about it. Being part of the discussion is fun. Perhaps if newspapers engaged their readers like Techdirt does, they wouldn't be in such trouble.
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Re: Re: Re: RE: Irony
> And the main reason, I think, that Techdirt is
> focusing on these kinds of things is because there is
> nothing else.
Are you mad?
That's like saying everything has already been invented.
I listed a whole bunch of other topics in my original post.
Here are a few more:
o unreasonable executive salaries
o short term -vs- long term view affecting
decision making
o declining corporate taxation
o lobbies which write legislation
o unfair trade policies
o non-compete clauses in contracts
o 'at will' employment (an unbalanced game tilted
in favor of the employee)
o corporate espionage
o foreign gov'ts subsidizing their industry
to unfair advantage
o surveillance societies
o incompetence in the workforce
o accountability of executives when things
go bad
o small business trends
o dying large businesses
There are so many other things that TechDirt could cover.
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Re: Re: Re: RE: Irony
> and I feel this kind of dismessivness is the reason
> so many powerful trade groups are now failing.
There are?
Could you please be a little more explicit, I'm
not aware of this.
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I dunno
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Delusional
P.S. @Noam Chompsky
The Merc is owned by MediaNews.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Irony
your option: cover a lot of broad business topics at a cursory level and eventually lose readers who can find deeper coverage of "incompetence in the workforce" or "unreasonable executive salaries" or whatever topics they are deeply interested in.
mike's option: cover a handful of related topics to unplumbed depths and successfully fulfill a niche.
um. so, mike's decision is why this site went from a passing-rss-consumption for me to a daily-hit-the-site required stop.
maybe it's kinda trite, but, dude. if you don't like the content of the site, why do you feel like you need to whine like an 8 year-old girl about it? "waahhhh... but, but, but, i don't wanna read about that... i wanna read about something else!" do you think mike's gonna go "oh, shit. i'm sorry. lemme write about stuff i don't want to just for you!"
if you don't like it, just go away.
m3mnoch.
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Re: Re: Irony!
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Re: Re: Irony!
You realize the the newspaper industry was/is an "advertising supported" model right, you remember that right. "Hey our ad revenues are down we have to cut pages"
I love revisionist history, it's always so much more interesting than the actual events.
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Re: Re: Re: Irony!
I think "go read something else" is exactly the right response. TD covers the topics its writers find interesting. If you want a blog about other things, go find one, or ask for recommendations.
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Not worth reading.
Now I'm told that Montreal is blessed in still having a daily newspaper worth reading, but there are second-string papers in this city that are better than the San Jose Mercury News.
In the end I started reading the free give-away papers than only come out every two weeks or so. They were few and far between, but at least they were worth reading. Could it be because they had learned to compete in an environment where free was common?
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Re: they don't understand econ 101
It is not proportional.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Irony
> content of the site, why do you feel like you need to
> whine like an 8 year-old girl about it? "waahhhh... but,
> but, but, i don't wanna read about that... i wanna read
It is trite, and it's always refreshing to see an adult
conversation.
Why is it that people like you feel that others must
take or leave everything? Can there be no middle ground?
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Re: Not worth reading.
By decreasing the news hole, they opened up the space for
advertisers of day spas, discos, bistros, wineries and other
feel-good businesses.
It's fun to read to find out what concerts are coming up, but it's not really news.
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Re: Re: Irony!
...and asking government for support in terms of very favorable legislation, tax subsidies, and rules that harm competitors.
Even more ironic if in the mid 90's, (when news should have been strategizing how to take advantage of the upcoming www), Techdirt decided to consolidate with other similar blogs, list on Wall Street, shift priority to dividends, fire half the writing staff, syndicate national stories, produce a lower-quality product, cater to the base interests of the masses, and then act surprised years later when a radical competitor offers something better.
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Re: Irony!
TechDirt.
I'm sorry to hear that. However, I will note that, unlike the Merc, our traffic has continued to increase -- suggesting our community is happy with what we write about. However, if you're not, you are free to submit stories. Our content is often driven by what people submit.
The problem with the Merc was that it went against what its audience wanted, made it harder to get the content, and got rid of all its good writers.
Surely there are many other things in the world of
business that could picked apart. Aren't there?
Sure. And we do, in fact, talk about many of those. But there are a lot more stories on those other topics, and the issues dealing with copyright/newspapers/free are trend issues that we think are important to get a handle on now, because the same issues are about to impact nearly every other industry out there. If you don't understand them now, then many of those other issues aren't going to matter.
1. Product quality?
2. Product safety?
3. Mistakes companies make?
We're really not in a position to discuss quality or safety -- and, in fact, there are many sites that do that quite well. So what additional advantage is there for us to do so? But we do discuss mistakes companies make quite frequently.
The mistakes of globalization? The unfairness of
globalization (production can freely move, but
workers cannot, for example).
We have discussed that in the past... but there hasn't been much *new* on that front to discuss.
Better watch out TechDirt, or maybe a more innovative
website in the near future will be writing your
obituary on a daily basis, much as you enjoy doing
for your favorite topics.
Fair enough. If we can't keep up with what our community wants, then we deserve to die. To date, however, all info suggests we are keeping up for the vast majority of our audience. I'm sorry that doesn't include you, but I'd suggest you submit stories you find interesting.
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Re: Re: Irony!
I have to admit that I find this an odd statement. We've highlighted numerous stories of businesses making use of new technology and trends to make money today. I find it odd that you think we haven't. I guess I'm just sorta left scratching my head about this claim.
But we get it: TechDirt thinks anything not free is folly.
Whoa, actually the opposite. We think putting in place a bad business model is folly. That means we believe quite strongly in charging for things *correctly* -- in ways that you're more likely to make money. I'm a bit stunned that you got the other message, but I guess I haven't done a very good job explaining our position.
While this flows nicely with the socialism-of-the-moment we're experiencing (and note the small "s"...I'm intending that to be an business-government economics statement, not a political one), it really ignores the fundamental problems for so many businesses, especially media: it costs money to create and distribute stuff.
Again, I find this rather stunning. We've been quite outspoken against the "socialism-of-the-moment" as being very bad for the economy, while at the same time detailing how many businesses are creating business models that allow them to fund the creation of stuff.
Perhaps you're confusing us with another site?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Irony
Here are a few more:
Oddly, we actually do cover almost all of the issues you list out on a regular basis. So, again, I'm sorta scratching my head. Also, again, if you see stories on these subjects that you don't think we covered adequately, please submit them.
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Online Merc
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Newspaper Suicide
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Re: Newspaper Suicide
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