These newspapers would have been more successful if they had introduced this stuff back in the 90s.


By Robert Channick Tribune staff reporter

11:31 p.m. CDT, June 26, 2012
The Chicago Tribune is launching a redesigned website that will give it the ability to sell digital subscriptions in the future.

Registration soon will be required to access premium features such as columnists, reviews, in-depth and investigative reporting and new content from outside news sources, the newspaper announced Tuesday.

All content, including premium content behind the new registration wall, will be free. Visitors who choose not to register will still have unlimited access to basic content, which includes breaking news, photos and videos.

Tribune executives described the new website as a first step toward putting up a pay wall.

"We know there has been a lot of buzz in the media lately about our plans for launching a pay model around our content," Bill Adee, vice president for digital development and operations at the Chicago Tribune, said in a memo to employees. "We expect to eventually charge for some level of premium content and are looking at several options, but we want user feedback to help shape our next steps."

The relaunched site will have a number of new features, including "drop-down" navigation, the ability to link comments to a user's Facebook profile and the full integration of TribLocal suburban coverage into chicagotribune.com.

The site will also include new premium content from The Economist and Forbes, available for registered users.

A new mobile-friendly version of chicagotribune.com is several weeks away from being released, according to executives.

Requiring registration for premium content sets the table for digital subscriptions down the road, but the Tribune has offered no specific timetable for putting the "pay" into its pay wall, nor has it laid out potential subscription plans that would include digital access.

"We'll be testing content and our readers' reactions to the expanded, relaunched site, and we're going to sort through all of that before we determine how much to charge," said Maggie Wartik, Tribune spokeswoman.

Online pay walls are rolling out across the country, as newspapers large and small struggle to adapt to the rapidly evolving digital landscape. More than 220 newspapers have implemented digital subscription plans to date, according to Newspapers & Technology, a monthly trade publication for the newspaper industry.

In September, the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald erected a digital pay wall. TheChicago Sun-Timesbegan charging for online content in early December, and Crain's Chicago Business launched its own metered pay wall this month.

The New York Times has been a model of success since introducing its pay wall in March 2011, signing up 454,000 digital subscribers in its first full year. Monthly packages range from $15 to $35, with all print subscribers getting full digital access at no additional charge. Visitors get 10 free articles per month before the digital pay wall kicks in.

The model has not only bolstered digital subscriptions but also reversed print declines through combined print-digital packages, said New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.

Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune and seven other daily newspapers, has been unfolding its pay wall plans over time, with a variety of models in play.

The Baltimore Sun and the Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., were the first Tribune Co. newspapers to begin charging for online content, erecting digital pay walls in October. In March, the Los Angeles Times introduced its own metered system.

The Hartford Courant remains the only Tribune Co. newspaper without a digital subscription or registration model in place.

Once its new platform is in place, which is expected within about a week, the Chicago Tribune will be deliberate about choosing a way to monetize digital access, Wartik said. For now, the website will remain free.

"No decisions have been made yet on pricing and/or the pay wall at all," Wartik said. "The site is free for everyone, indefinitely. There will obviously be special considerations for our print subscribers."

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Why would someone pay to view a newspapers web content? Maybe the same people who still have home phones...

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Where are you going to get your news? Twitter?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

No shit. Or not have a website at all. Couldn't have turned out any worse than it did.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Who would have thought giving away all of your news stories for free for over 15 years was a poor business decision?

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They really had no chance. It was like expecting telegraphs to survive telephones. The internet was literally designed to be an information sharing service.

The only future for them is in custom content. There is no future in reprinting things they didn't write and instead purchased from other sources. The Chicago Tribune basically needs to become a magazine.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I subscribe (mostly just for the Sunday paper) but read it on my phone daily.

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@audioidkid

HEY DON'T HATE! when justin bieber physically moves i am updated. that's news, baby!

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reading newspapers is for liberals.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

me. but then again i thought giving away all of my music for free over 15 years was a good business decision!

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Isn't the Sunday paper just Saturdays news with adds and coupons?

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I don't know...I don't read the paper on Saturdays.

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@audioidkid

We're talking about a "newspaper", Rick. I'm not sure why you choose to fixate on the form of delivery. That isn't really the issue. Do you really think that reading Andy Thayer's blog is equivalent to reading the Chicago Tribune?

I realize that what has become the established news business began as a conduit for self-serving propaganda, but it progressed beyond that to a point where a respectable news organization had to present a reasonably fair and balanced viewpoint of events. So you're welcome to get your news from The Young Turks on Youtube.com and I'll continue to pay for my news- in one form or another- from established organizations with at least some remaining journalistic standards.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

It wasn't blogs that killed newspapers. It's superior online options like cnn.com and yahoo. Now, obviously the local level still needs the "Local man wins second place in pie competition" but someone will fill that need. It may even be the Chicago Tribune. Let's use sports as an example. Yahoo Sports + deadspin is better than any sports section in the whole country. There are still going to be professionals who are paid to cover sports and write about sports. That isn't going away. What is going away is the concept that reading news that is 12-24 hours old is worth it when we can learn about things right now. Now, the Chicago Tribune needs to provide unique content I can't get anywhere else. My wife probably has 5 or 6 magazine subscriptions. That's because they create unique content. We don't have a newspaper delivered because I can read the same stuff online.

To be honest, I think news reporting is significantly better now than it was when your only option was the two Chicago papers and a few national options. The access to news is virtually limitless.

So will I. It just won't be the Chicago Tribune. It will be Yahoo and cnn.com and other sites. I'm not going to youtube for news.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Yahoo subscribes to the Associated Press. CNN severed its relationship with AP a couple years ago, but has built a worldwide network of reporters. I would consider those entities to be similar to newspapers.

The problem comes in when simply reporting the news isn't enough to drive revenues to a desired level. That's when established news organizations start relaxing standards or creating "unaffiliated" cites to spread rumor and innuendo. It's much easier to do in the Internet age. For example, you cited Deadspin as a source for news. It's no such thing. It's a gossip page trafficking in rumor and innuendo.

All news sources aren't equal. It's becoming increasingly difficult to identify the reliable ones. But it will likely sort itself out.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

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That's my point. We don't need a Chicago Tribune to do the same thing you can get from Yahoo. If anything, the Chicago Tribune will be forced to produce quality customized content to survive.
Of course Deadspin is a source for news. You just have to know how to read it. They are pretty open about some of it being rumor and innuendo. However, their coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial was better than almost anyone else.

It's not like news or reporters are going away. In reality, there are probably more now than ever.

Ultimately, people like newspapers because they are used to reading newspapers. They'll get an ipad or kindle and read it online just fine.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

????? You're kidding, right? There's a specific way the masses have to be trained to read news stories to sort the truth from the bullshit? That's what the reporter used to do. Now, everyone is apparently entited to his own personalized version of what actually occurred. Fuck your truth. This is my truth.



They'll still be reading a newspaper.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I read a newspaper everyday from march madness of 6th grade through about April 2008. One they raised prices and severly cut the amount of content, I went strictly to online reading.

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The point I'm attempting to make to Rick is that it doesn't matter what form you read it in, it's still a "newspaper". The content and its quality is what matters.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I read a paper every day from 3th/4th grade to about 2010. It started when I became really interested in reading box scores and Cubs stats, and the lady that my aunt worked at the time had a Sun Times subscription. I read it everyday before going to school.

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Would you agree the quality of the city newpapers has went down considerable int he last five/six years? Also the free pass these papers gave Daley for all those years is disgusting.

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I'll assume they're adding pornography.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

It's no different than reading an editorial vs. a news story. You realize that one is coming from a different area. Since newspapers are for old people and those who like to waste money I have to ask, did they cover the Patrick Kane wild weekend in Madison story? That was based on rumor too.
I don't really understand your objection to anything I've said then. Of course a newspaper will still exist in some format. The fact is that they have been marginalized and realistically just means "source of news that at one point was printed on paper but now is just online".

My point is that the days of relying on newspapers for your news is quickly coming to an end. They may still provide the service, but they are simply among the many options available.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I recall the Sun-Times back in the 70s was as thick as freaking phone book. Every day.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Except for the whole "paper" part of it. Yes, news will still exist. You got me.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Do you really not grasp that the method of delivery is insignificant? That isn't what's at stake. You've equated Deadspin with CNN in this very thread. And I consider you an intelligent person. Imagine how easy it is to hornswoggle the average dummy. What can he rely on? I'll bet a lot of CSFMB members think Oreo now sells a rainbow cookie.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

In all seriousness, I've probably learned more about sports from Deadspin than any other site. In the golden age of newspapers, we probably would have no clue about Ben Roethlisberger and his exploits. If anything, it would be a simple "he was accused but nothing more happened".

I still say that Yahoo is better than any newspaper, and the best sports coverage has been coming from Yahoo sports.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

never in my life have I looked at Yahoo sports, but given your ravings I will check it out.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I don't see how one can equate reading items posted at CNN.com with reading a major city newspaper. They serve two different purposes (in large part). Sure CNN does well with international and national stories. Scanning Yahoo headlines - which I do several times a day - is a quick way to keep on top of emerging stories. However, I don't go to them for their thoughts on Quinn, Rizzo, local crime, festivals, restaurant reviews,...,etc. It's the same reason I prefer The Score over ESPN.

I am also a dinosaur who prefers to read an actual newspaper. If I go to on-line news sites I tend to read only the items which interest me based upon the headline. I skip most sections. I would almost never read comics. For me, perusing a conventional paper provides a more complete & satisfying experience.

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