The Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, Texas, this week will be the first Freedom Communications newspaper to begin charging non-subscribers a fee to read its online edition.
The newspaper said that seven-day-a-week subscribers would get free access to the online edition, but that others would have to pay up to $3.95 per month.
“The days of giving content away, which costs money to create and for which we charge our print subscribers, I think, are just about over,” said Valley Morning Star Publisher Tyler Patton.
The newspaper will continue to make some of its features, including national news and the paper’s home page, free of charge on its Web site.
Patton said he expects other Freedom newspapers to follow suit.
Meantime, The New York Times said a survey of print subscribers is leading it to consider levying a $5 monthly fee for access to its Web site.
Bloomberg reported that The Times also asked if subscribers would be willing to pay a discounted fee of $2.50 to read content on the site.
Monday, July 13, 2009
N.H. paper shuts down
The Eagle Times in Claremont, N.H., abruptly shut down last week after the company that published the newspaper filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The newspaper, published six days a week, was founded more than 175 years ago and employed more than 100 people.
The publisher said the family-owned Eagle Publications could no longer continue underwriting the losses of the company, according to an article posted by The Union-Leader in Manchester, N.H.
"We did our best to continue the operations, but the economy and the changes in the newspaper industry have made it impossible to continue this business," said a memo issued by Eagle Publications.
The newspaper, published six days a week, was founded more than 175 years ago and employed more than 100 people.
The publisher said the family-owned Eagle Publications could no longer continue underwriting the losses of the company, according to an article posted by The Union-Leader in Manchester, N.H.
"We did our best to continue the operations, but the economy and the changes in the newspaper industry have made it impossible to continue this business," said a memo issued by Eagle Publications.
Printed Blog folds
The Printed Blog, a venture that aggregated blog content to create newspapers, ceased publication.
Founder Joshua Karp cited lack of funding.
Content for The Printed Blog was selected based on the votes of readers and their geographic location. Before its demise, the service produced 16 issues, distributed 80,000 print copies, with 100,000 copies downloaded (see News & Tech, February 2009).
“Despite a significant personal investment on my part, and the additional support of six or seven credit cards, we were unable to raise the minimum amount of money required to reach the next stage of our development,” Karp said. “This was a difficult decision for us, but the financial reality of the situation demanded that we suspend further publication immediately and indefinitely.”
Founder Joshua Karp cited lack of funding.
Content for The Printed Blog was selected based on the votes of readers and their geographic location. Before its demise, the service produced 16 issues, distributed 80,000 print copies, with 100,000 copies downloaded (see News & Tech, February 2009).
“Despite a significant personal investment on my part, and the additional support of six or seven credit cards, we were unable to raise the minimum amount of money required to reach the next stage of our development,” Karp said. “This was a difficult decision for us, but the financial reality of the situation demanded that we suspend further publication immediately and indefinitely.”
Ky. dailies join CommunitySportsDesk
Paxton Media Group Kentucky dailies The Messenger in Madisonville and The Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro rolled out CommunitySportsDesk to collect, organize and present community sports and recreation content on their online and print products.
The Kentucky affiliates join Paxton’s Indiana properties in Marion, Wabash, Peru, Huntington and Frankfort as CSD customers.
The Kentucky affiliates join Paxton’s Indiana properties in Marion, Wabash, Peru, Huntington and Frankfort as CSD customers.
The Day upgrades CMS
The Day of New London, Conn., upgraded to Mediaspectrum’s latest version of ContentWatch.
Mediaspectrum released ContentWatch 2.0, the latest upgrade to its flagship content management app, last month.
The day has been using the app since last year (see News & Tech, November 2008).
Mediaspectrum released ContentWatch 2.0, the latest upgrade to its flagship content management app, last month.
The day has been using the app since last year (see News & Tech, November 2008).
Tribune to sell ads for Dallas Morning News
Tribune Co. will begin selling national print and online ads for The Dallas Morning News under terms of a contract between the Chicago-based publisher and A.H. Belo Corp.
Tribune365 National Solutions Group will be responsible for marketing The Morning News. The newly formed unit will represent the daily newspaper as well as Belo’s Quick and Al Dia publications in Dallas as well as all of the publications’ Web sites.
"This is an important step toward a more efficient and better equipped sales force for our company," said Cyndy Carr, The Morning News’ senior vice president of sales.
Tribune365 National Solutions Group will be responsible for marketing The Morning News. The newly formed unit will represent the daily newspaper as well as Belo’s Quick and Al Dia publications in Dallas as well as all of the publications’ Web sites.
"This is an important step toward a more efficient and better equipped sales force for our company," said Cyndy Carr, The Morning News’ senior vice president of sales.
Mitsubishi offering lower-cost CTP machine
Mitsubishi released the Digital NewsPro System, which the vendors said is an affordable computer-to-plate machine designed specifically for short-run newspapers, pennysavers and book printing.
The Digital NewsPro System integrates Mitsubishi’s Silver DigiPlate plate technology with a Katana platesetter, plate bender and lock-ups designed to meet the requirements of newspaper presses, Mitsubishi said.
The Digital NewsPro System integrates Mitsubishi’s Silver DigiPlate plate technology with a Katana platesetter, plate bender and lock-ups designed to meet the requirements of newspaper presses, Mitsubishi said.
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