Sunday, July 1, 2012

Here comes the paywall

Clarion-Ledger publisher Leslie Hurst announced the newspaper's website will move to a subscription-based model on August 1:

"We have seen so much change at The Clarion-Ledger, especially in the past few years. Where once our focus was on publishing a printed product once a day, we now publish our news and information constantly and on many different platforms. We changed because the world changed and the way you wanted to consume our content changed.

Those changes have forever altered the old business model, a model on which newspaper companies once thrived. The old way has simply become unsustainable, and so today I write to you to lay out how we are changing again, and why.

For years, we have charged customers for the printed newspaper edition and its delivery, and given our content away free online. Starting Aug. 1, that will change.

Under a new subscription model, we will now be charging for our content, regardless of how it is accessed. We believe this new model will help provide the resources to sustain our mission of great community journalism and continue to be the state's leading provider of news and information.....

The biggest change - again - is that we will now charge for our online content and non-subscribers will have access to only a still-to-be-determined number of monthly story views. The past practice of providing unrestricted access to our content for non-subscribers was neither fair nor sustainable in the long term.

Print subscribers will see a price increase as well. As difficult as I know that is to hear, I hope you will agree that at just under 80 cents a day, the quality and breadth of our content remains an incredible bargain
...."

Hmmmm.... 80 cents a day....times 30.....$24 per month...$288 a year OR if its 75 cents a day... that means $22.50 per month and $270 per year. What a bargain. That is an estimate of course since Ms. Hurts neglected to mention the pricing structure in her column. Stay tuned.

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thankfully this funeral is finally over.

Therefore, silence the damn bagpipes .
The open casket has finally been closed
for "viewing" .

I would actually pay to access the JFP website
rather give one dime to he Clarion Ledger.

Anonymous said...

I guess I will rely on KF for my Mississippi news. He is much more reliable and can actually put a coherent thought together.

Anonymous said...

fade to black as the Door's "This is the end..." softly plays in the background...

Anonymous said...

Once again......

There are a fews things I hope I live to see: Congressional term limits, the EPA disbanded, Nancy Pelosi working at a drive through and the Clarion-Ledger closed.

Now we will see the if their liberal ass black interest dominanted news is worthy of being paid for by the people it focuses on.

Not a chance

KaptKangaroo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mark said...

As someone who once helped to put updated content on the ClarionLedger.com site each night, this saddens me.

Kingfish said...

By the way Ms. Hurst, if you're going to charge WSJ prices, you better have WSJ quality. If they pull this kind of pricing, hello WSJ subscription.

Ironghost said...

Well, nothing happens in Jackson worth mentioning anyway...

Ann Onimous said...

This news doesn't bother me very much - so I get two minutes a day of my life back. That's all I spend on the CL, anyway. My concern is the local spinoffs; I do read the Clinton News. Will those be affected as well?

If so, well, I get about 20 more minutes a week of my life back.

KaptKangaroo said...

Garbage in, garbage out. Clarion Ledger no better than the Fallopian Crier (sorry Fondren Bugle stolen). To think my $ would contribute is sadly mistaken.

Anonymous said...

So much hate.
Y'all actually think there is a better alternative?
You want to see yet another business close? Yet more people unemployed?
Lot of really, really bitter people posting here.

meople said...

Can jindal still run for president? What's the cut off? I hope TX, AR, MS, FL, OK, AL, TN, GA, and the Carolinas follow suit. He needs support. No obamacare.

Anonymous said...

Wake up people. It's happening all over the country, and most people aren't surprised and nor do they care. There's too many other outlets to get news if you want news.

I have gone from reading both the Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger daily from cover to cover to taking the Clarion Ledger only on Sundays. Today's paper is on my coffee table, and I haven't even opened it. No big deal. I don't feel like I have missed a thing.

Time to move on-ALL of us.

Ironghost said...

8:04

The CL hasn't been a MS based business in years, and quit caring about issues in Mississippi at about the same time. No one here will miss 'em.

Anonymous said...

It isn't so much hate and bitterness as it is the opinion that the quality of the C-L has really gone down in the past few years.

Major layoffs of experienced personnel have resulted in less-and-less accurately reported local news. In addition, what local news is reported frequently is biased.

Combine that with more reposting of stock Associated Press releases that are available from many other sources and you just don't get the value for your money.

The alternative to the C-L at this point is a combination of Jackson Jambalaya and the local TV station websites (WLBT, WAPT, WJTV) for local news.

The C-L is a hollow shell of the paper it was even 10 years ago. Blame the internet or Gannett or whatever you want, but it does sadden me to have seen what was once one of the best news sources for Mississippi become what it currently is.

Anonymous said...

You want the news in Jackson? I got it for you right here:

-Bunch of racist black politicians find selves in hole, keep digging.

-Guy gets shot, JPD has no clue what happened.

-Shifty, third-rate developer promises to build some mixed use, upscale bullshit. Wants taxpayer money up front.

-Jackson State plays some other junior high team, keeps handing out worthless diplomas. People keep pretending it's a real university.

Just bookmark this page and you should be set for the next 10-20 years. You're welcome.

Anonymous said...

July 1, 2012 8:04 PM

Local rag calling for insurrection vs CL b/c they can't drop their trash in the store?

Kingfish said...

I think they should use a paywall. Never understood why they were giving away their content.

Shadowfax said...

Jambalaya is a fun site and often informative; however, I'm not fooled into thinking this is THE source for area (and certainly not state) news.

Took me a long while to stop missing the Commercial Appeal and I still anticipate the CL hitting the driveway early every a.m. Sometimes it's informative and sometimes it's not. Like everything else in life.

Anonymous said...

How in the world will I find out who died? Which is about the total of my CL reading!!!

Anonymous said...

WSJ print edition + tablet + phone + computer access = $21.75 per month, ie 10% cheaper than the print version of the CL. I just checked. I'll be canceling my CL sub today and I look forward to reading the WSJ, and the Northside Sun and Madison County Journal for my local news (both of which I already receive).
Note to Emmerich and Prince: It's a great opportunity for you to become dominant in local news. CL has been so disappointing recently.

Kingfish said...

I'm going to defend them for a minute here. How are they supposed to stay in business? They could have the best reporters and editors but if they don't have the means to pay for them, big deal.

I don't think what really has you stirred up is the fact they are going to charge for the website, its the fact they have gutted the paper and are going to charge us more for an inferior product. Asking us to provide free content so they can charge us for it doesn't help either. Kind of like the Fed charging us interest for our own money. Oops, did I say that?

Anyway, I don't blame them for not giving the store away. SHould have done this ten years ago.

Shadowfax said...

Isn't the Madison Journal actually 'part of' the Clarion Ledger? If the Ledger dies, how will the surrounding county pubs survive?

Anonymous said...

No, Shadowfax. The Journal is a separate paper from the Herald, which is sadly owned by the CL. They have killed the Herald.

Kingfish said...

MC Herald is. As usual, you don't read.

Anonymous said...

Kingfish, your 6:56 a.m. post hit it on the head. You can't blame them for charging, but they have gutted the paper and getting "free" comments from God know who. Yes, I am willing to pay for real news, I have done it for decades.

Anonymous said...

I don't blame them for charging, but just a few years ago the Clarion Ledger was $8 per MONTH. Now they are wanting $8 per WEEK. The quality of the paper has declined by at least 70% while the price has increased. No thanks.

Anonymous said...

Found this: https://services.wsj.com/Gryphon/jsp/retentionController.jsp?page=593

A year's subscription to WSJ is $119 vs. 1 year Clarion Ledger subscription is now $288.

Bwah hahahaha. I hope no one pays this and they go out of business. I hope the remaining employees of the CL pack up and start a new newspaper worth reading. When and if that happens I will certainly subscribe.

Anonymous said...

Found this: https://services.wsj.com/Gryphon/jsp/retentionController.jsp?page=593

A year's subscription to WSJ is $119 vs. 1 year Clarion Ledger subscription is now $288.

Bwah hahahaha. I hope no one pays this and they go out of business. I hope the remaining employees of the CL pack up and start a new newspaper worth reading. When and if that happens I will certainly subscribe.

Anonymous said...

Concerns about people losing jobs a little late. In 2000 I think the total employees at C-L was around 750 today maybe 150-200.

Yes it is sad, however they could have been pro active in the early days of the internet. They were (newpapers) impressed with themselves and felt bulletproof. These problems lie squarley at the feet of the CEO's and publishers. Some of the publishers knew better but would not stand up to the boss.

Will the C-L die? No, not completely but it will become a shell of its previous self.

Leslie please turn out the lights.

Anonymous said...

The problem is not with the CL or the sad state of print journalism today. The reason the CL is hurting is Gannett. The big corporation demands revenues and profits that, in a locally owned paper of that size, would go back into making the paper a better product.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post KF. For clarification the CL owns The MC Herald, Rankin Ledger, Hinds Ledger and Clinton News. The Herald and Rankin Ledger you likely don't see, as most of them wind up going directly into the recycling bin at CL. Carriers are paid $1 per bundle of 25 papers to throw them in the driveways of non-subscribers. However, since there's no one to verify whether or not they're actually thrown, they can leave them, still bundled, to just be thrown into the recycling bin. That means all those advertisers are being deceived as to the actual circulation numbers. As to an early commenter about Gannett, that's absolutely true. CL runs at a 25-28% profit margin, virtually all of which goes to Virginia. That's the number they expect it to continue at, regardless of today's publishing realities. That's one of many reasons the quality of the paper has declined. Believe me, there are way too many to list here. Thanks again KF for providing a forum for people to vent.

Shadowfax said...

You can stuff your arrogant attitude Kingflush. I get both the Journal and the Herald. One hits the drive and the other is enclosed inside the Clarion Ledger. I don't bother to keep up with who prints which but I did think one or both of them were printed in house by the CL and even that they had shared staff. Pardon me for not keeping up with such minutia.

Anonymous said...

My my Shadowfax. So touchy. If you get both papers you'd know the difference.

Anonymous said...

Two papers in Madison. Madison County Herald (owned by Gannet) and Madison County Journal (this is the one I like) Go to Ms Press website http://mspa.affiniscape.com and look to your left under “newspapers” to see listings for counties/cities.

Good comment, July 1, 2012 9:02 PM. Didn’t know if anyone else noticed the cut and paste coverage that’s simply a rehash of AP story.

Good observation, KF (I don't think what really has you stirred up is the fact they are going to charge for the website, its the fact they have gutted the paper and are going to charge us more for an inferior product)

As for the obits, they are powered by legacy.com. You can go directly to their website and pull up obituaries for the state of Ms. (They do the obits for CL, Commercial Dispatch, Hattiesburg American, The Mississippi Press, and Sun Herald.)

My issue with CL is pretty simple. I don’t feel it is a trusted news source anymore and hasn’t been so in many years. It is one-sided coverage and relies heavily on rehashing coverage from other sources. I enjoy a good newspaper but I want clean news reporting. The editorial is the place for one-sided stuff and both sides of any issue should be represented in the editorial. And quite frankly, the kissy butt stuff with some hand picked politicians is sad. Its just another thing that tarneshed their reliability.

Shadowfax said...

10:13; I get all three. It's just that the ordinary consumer has no idea what conglomerate publishes, edits or prints or is otherwise affiliated with which small town papers. Thus my thought that one of them might not remain if the CL went down the tubes.

Anonymous said...

9:43- very interesting. So the CL is complicit in defrauding their own advertisers in the MC Herald and Rankin Ledger, it sounds like.

Anonymous said...

Haven't paid a dime to the CL for years, barely look at it online, nothing of interest other than the black mafia of Judges, lawyers, and politicians making asses of themselves daily. I have had enough of hearing black reverse racism hate speech crammed down my throat.

Anonymous said...

Newspapers expecting a 20 percent profit margin or better is like a record store expecting 1990s era profits. Many businesses would love to have a five percent margin. I'd be turning cartwheels with ten percent.

Benny053 said...

Including the obits? That's the only thing worth reading, anyway.

Anonymous said...

To 10:17, yes.
If they don't know, it's because they don't want to know. On any press run, it's assumed that roughly 10% of what's printed will return to the CL and end up in the recycling bin. Add to that a roughly 2-3% waste ratio of the press itself (start-up and shut down). That means they should know roughly how many pounds of paper wound up in the bin. An additional ~40000 MC Heralds & ~20000 Rankin Ledgers (both with inserts) should be a clue the weight of the recycling bin is off. Way off. Again, if they don't know, it's only because they don't want to.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info on legacy.com. I have to keep up on who died so I don't ask someone how's their momma doing and she'd been dead for 6 months.

Anonymous said...

If you do subscribe to the C-L never pay for your bill online with your credit card. They store your credit card number WITHOUT seeking your authorization first and the 4th graders who staff their customer service phones in Dumbfuck, USA can't remove the card number once it gets into their system.

Anonymous said...

They truly have the worst customer service I've EVER experienced. The other day I called to cancel my service and pay my bill. They told me I couldn't pay my bill and cancel my service on the same call. Abysmal. And this after waiting over 15 minutes on hold. I contrast this with calling the Consumer Reports number and canceling my subscription to their website, which took less than 2 minutes total, with maybe 1 minute spent on hold.
Get it together Clarion Ledger! Or whatever. I really don't care what happens to you at this point. You deserve what you get.

Anonymous said...

The latest. Got a letter today from the Clarion Ledger telling me my Sunday only delivery is going from $8.00 to $12.00 a month.

I then went straight to my account online to cancel, and guess what? You can do most everything to your account, but you cannot cancel online. Then I called the Clarion Ledger. They told me they had a large volume of callers and then gave me options as to what I wanted to do. One of the options was "Discontinue my Paper." I was put on hold, and stayed on hold about 15 minutes and was for some reason disconnected.

I immediately called back and the same thing happened. I was put on hold and stayed on hold for about 15minutes until a human finally came on the line. I was asked why I was canceling, and I told the lady I was not paying any more per month for my paper. She then went into a spill about not being able to read the paper online, too, if I cancelled, and I was then offered six months at what she called a "discounted" rate. I don't know what this rate would have been, because I told the lady I wanted to just cancel. She said OK.

So as of July 29, 2012 I will no longer take the Jackson paper after subscribing to it since 1968. So goodbye ole friend. I wish I could say I am going to miss you, but I already know I'm not.



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

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This is definitely a Beaver production.


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Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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