hackermatic on Nostr: npub19fcv2…aay3c I'd like to correct you with a "yes and" -- My parents have worked ...
npub19fcv2nflra09c6p9xz8c8detwj6uy07u4z4m25qh836mnvxtatdq6aay3c (npub19fc…ay3c) I'd like to correct you with a "yes and" -- My parents have worked for newspapers since the 80s, and revenue has tanked over the past couple decades precisely because it was mostly based on ads. Fewer places advertise with newspapers anymore (online or off), and online ads are so much cheaper than print ads ever were that just ditching the cost of paper doesn't help.
The remaining traditional newspapers are in a death spiral of staff cuts and subscription price increases, except for a few large national outlets like WaPo that try to make it up in volume. But ad revenue still wasn't enough for nimble new-media outlets like HuffPost News, Vice News, and Mic -- and there's a lot of evidence that online ad prices are based on massive amounts of click fraud, anyway.
I think there's no sustainable alternative *except* some kind of subscription model, especially locally -- the only other option right now is philanthropic funding (unsustainable and a huge conflict of interest).
The remaining traditional newspapers are in a death spiral of staff cuts and subscription price increases, except for a few large national outlets like WaPo that try to make it up in volume. But ad revenue still wasn't enough for nimble new-media outlets like HuffPost News, Vice News, and Mic -- and there's a lot of evidence that online ad prices are based on massive amounts of click fraud, anyway.
I think there's no sustainable alternative *except* some kind of subscription model, especially locally -- the only other option right now is philanthropic funding (unsustainable and a huge conflict of interest).