Dan GillmorDear @TheAtlantic -- Putting your important journalism about the fascist threat to our democracy behind a paywall is a mistake.
The message you're sending about your priorities is not a positive one.
LeisureguyIt seems very much as if capitalism and its overriding imperative ("grow profits") is what has created the conditions for the destruction of the US. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
John LuskKwitchyerbellyachin. Me and 11 other people could solve this problem, as could you, probably.
RoyalQuack@dangillmor @TheAtlantic Download adblockers people!
Paul SchoeAnd how would adblockers help The Atlantic to pay their bills and continue journalism?
Seeing some ads is not paying.
If I find an article worth the time to read, why would I diminish their ability to write it by removing the ads?
@paulschoe @dangillmor @TheAtlantic we weren’t talking about ads. OP said “paywall” not ads. Adblockers remove those too. Also even with ads you are paying with your data
Sorry for that, when I read 'adblocker', I read: a blocker for ads.
That you meant getting rid of paywalls, is not something that I deduced from that word.
For articles that I want to read, I happily pay with my data for those ads. What is the amount? 0.00001$ per page?
But I cannot deny that even 0.00001$ is paying.
@paulschoe @dangillmor @TheAtlantic I understand that sometimes it’s okay to keep ads. But I’m just not paying for articles
JA Westenberg@dangillmor @TheAtlantic I'm very much in favour of paywalls to protect and support quality journalism. But not when it interferes with the mission critical purpose of the news; the responsibilty to inform, above all else, and at any and all cost.
Comrade Lion-O@dangillmor There is nothing more Mastodon than to complain when someone does something good.
Flaming Cheeto@dangillmor @TheAtlantic it's also not available as an electronic checkout thru my library
Thomas Baekdal@dangillmor @TheAtlantic I'm sorry, but this is a misguided mindset. We are seeing massive levels of layoff in the industry, and journalists are not wealthy philanthropists.
In a time of crisis, you don't tell nurses to work for free to help the injured. So telling journalists to not get paid for their important work is wrong.
Instead, as a reader, you should support this very important form of journalism!
@baekdal I subscribe and have for a long time. On a topic of this importance I would drop the paywall. @TheAtlantic
@dangillmor @TheAtlantic
I get what you are saying, but I don't agree. Demanding that important news should be made available for free (and by that extension, that important news should be paid for by the newspapers as a form of public charity to the public) undermines journalism as an industry because it means we can only make money from non-important news which is not profitable... and 20,000 journalists have lost their jobs this year alone.
I get what you are saying, but I don't agree. Demanding that important news should be made available for free (and by that extension, that important news should be paid for by the newspapers as a form of public charity to the public) undermines journalism as an industry because it means we can only make money from non-important news which is not profitable... and 20,000 journalists have lost their jobs this year alone.
@baekdal Advice, not a demand.
I'm saying that in this single case, the consequences of what they're reporting are so dire that -- if I were running the org, which has always needed and still has rich benefactors' support -- it merits opening up.
That would, or at least should, drive more subscriptions. @TheAtlantic
Joe Ortiz@dangillmor @baekdal @TheAtlantic This should be a public service type of exception, considering that our existence as a democracy is on the line here.
By the way, you should read this from Nathan J. Robinson over at Current Affairs (published in 2020) as it's still relevant today: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/08/the-truth-is-paywalled-but-the-lies-are-free
