Jeff Jarvis
"Democracy dies behind paywalls"
https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/democracy-dies-behind-paywalls/
Democracy dies behind paywalls | What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News

We all surf dozens – even hundreds – of sites and sources, yet none of us can afford to subscribe to everything we’d want to consume. But today we are being forced to subscribe wherever we go – cutting off everyone from access to diverse and crucial information. This is dangerous – here is why. …

What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News
Dec 21, 2022 at 12:13pmWeb
Show threadRoman VilgutDec 21, 2022
@jeffjarvis but who will pay my saleries? Ad people??? Doubt that...
Show threadJeff JarvisDec 21, 2022
@RomanVilgut One way or another, we need to deal with the reality of the marketplace. Customers never care about a producer's costs, only about the value to them in a competitive market.
Show threadRoman VilgutDec 22, 2022
@jeffjarvis exactly, a value to be paid by subscription or begging. Both systems seem to work. What does not work: Ads
Show threadMatěj Cepl 🇪🇺 🇨🇿 🇺🇦Dec 21, 2022
@jeffjarvis Yes, micropayments for articles, nuclear fusion, user-friendly digitally signed emails, and paperless office. Until then, this is just a snob who is unhappy that he doesn't have everything for free^H^H^H^H^Hpaid by ads. Yes, subscription numbers are low, but how many subscribed to WP/Times/WSJ in the pre-Internet times? Yes, the rest will be reading those free junk newspapers given away for free in the subway.
Show threadMike HicksDec 21, 2022

@jeffjarvis That mentions "Time Pass" like a proper noun -- is that some specific service? It appears to be too generic a term to be googleable

There definitely needs to be some sort of day pass system to be like buying a paper off a newsstand, whether that's individual sites adding PayPal or Google/Apple/Samsung Pay, etc., or an intermediary that allows the same

Show threadTommy ByrdDec 21, 2022
@jeffjarvis I wonder if there's a reality where something like Twitch's "gift subscriptions" could work for paywall'd media. Not sure exactly how this would work, but it definitely bothers me that a lot of the best journalism being done these days is tagged as "premium content", while there's a lot of garbage available for free.