The Day The Newspapers Shut Down Their Sites

I would never, ever, ever be able to settle on ESPN.com or Yahoo for, say, my White Sox news. I want more than the box score and AP wrap-up. I want to know whether Mark Buehrle might get an extra day's rest this rotation and why. I want to know why Ozzie didn't put Brian Anderson in in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement last night.

I want to know the nitty-gritty of the Bears contract stuff. John Clayton may touch on that, if I catch him at the right time. David Haugh writes about it in-depth every single day, often even in the offseason, and then tells me what it all means in the big picture.

 

I'm not patronizing you, Metin, I'm outright insulting you. Do some research instead of just spouting opinions.

 

Again, how's that business going, Frank?

That's what I thought.

 

Um, if you haven't noticed, the newspaper business has been giving the product away for free during this downslide. Doing what you advocate, in other words, not what Frank advocates.

 

Go right ahead and pull the plug on your website or start charging for it, Waylon. Either way, let me know how that works out for you.

 

This is what kills me... I state without hyperbole:
I work for a decent place, once a great place. Circulation and staff shrink by the month.
When we look at the numbers, more eyes see our content today than any day over the last century-and-a-half. Our failure isn't growing or changing or adjusting, our failure was proprietary.
Even at our reduced number, there is not one entity that could come close to servicing the public in the way we do. And we don't do nearly the job we used to. That's the truth.

 

I've got to agree with TSP--Metin is the only one thinking logically here.

Shutting down websites for 2 weeks would be a horrible idea that would accomplish nothing.

 

I do think the two-week idea is kind of silly. No one is going to pine so hard for newspapers after two weeks that they'll all come flooding back to subscribe. I mean, come on. There are hunger strikes that last much longer than that.

 

Do it for a month or a year, then. I honestly hopes it works for you. Of course, I think it'd be a fucking disaster, but I'll be cheering for you. We could all use the good news.

 

Nobody's really explained to me what you have to lose. Nobody is going to go to TV websites for their news for two weeks, and TV websites aren't going to suddenly become competent overnight.

You come back after two weeks. If it accomplishes nothing, it accomplishes nothing. But it sure as hell isn't going to cost anything.

 

No, but giving milk away for free is the wrong end of the spectrum as well.

The middle ground is giving away the lede for free and charging for everything after that.

 

How about shutting down the web site permanently?