The High Point Enchilada is not a free lunch, but is it newspapers' future meal ticket?
In his column Sunday, High Point Enterprise editor Tom Blount explained why the paper charges $6 a month for access to its complete electronic edition:
"The Enterprise Web site has two sides, one for which quite a bit of information is without charge. The other side -– the e-paper, an electronic twin of the print product -– for a discount ($6 a month, compared to $10.50 every four weeks for home delivery of the print version).
"Most newspaper Web sites give you free access to a limited amount of information but require you to pay for archived material if you're seeking access to an item, say, two weeks after it first appeared in print.
"It's pretty much common practice, however, for newspapers to have you pay to review the electronic version of the entire newspaper -– everything that has appeared in the print version.
"Some of you have asked how we at the Enterprise can have the audacity to ask you to pay for Internet access to the complete version of any day's edition.
"The answer is simple. Why should you have access to the entire newspaper via the Internet free of charge when those subscribing to the print version have to pay for it?
"You already have free access to plenty of information from the Enterprise Web site and, soon, even more information will be available to you without charge. The process to make that happen is under way. But, if you want the whole enchilada, you’re going to have to pay for it.
"There simply is no such thing as a free lunch."
I subscribe to the HPE print edition so I don't have to pay extra for e-edition access. Would I otherwise? I might. I like the format. You get an exact replica of each page with the ability to call up and print out each story. It's still not worth as much to me as the real, or print, edition, but I'm old-fashioned about newspapers. At least with the e-edition you don't have to dispose of the old papers, so there's an ecological benefit to going electronic.
Is that the future of newspapers, all electronic? Without printing and distribution costs, I imagine the profit margins would soar out of sight -- if readers and advertisers would bite.
Would you?
Comments (8)
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I think the future is electronic, more in the way of pda, cell phones, and other mediums which will come about, but to charge anything for electronic news is a bit premature. Especially when there is so much advertising money available online. Newspapers need to better understand the Internet before it tries to charge for it in my opinion. It takes unique content delivery in order to make most people say, "I'm willing to pay for that."
Look at AOL, the subscription method failed when others offered it for free. Now they've went free.
Posted on December 4, 2006 6:54 PM
"There simply is no such thing as a free lunch."* HPE Editorial
Then stave to death in the age of the internet and the free market of ideas. These mainstream media marketing wizs sound like the dudes at Ford who said folks would pay more for the Edsel.
Posted on December 4, 2006 7:23 PM
Profit margins for an all-electronic edition won't soar out of sight. (If only.) Right now, you need a lot more pairs of eyeballs reading your electronic work to generate as much ad revenue as you get from a certain number of eyeballs reading your printed work.
Posted on December 5, 2006 6:31 AM
I only read the online N&R.
When someone asked me why I didn't fork over the money to buy the print edition, I responded, "'Cause I don't want to encourage them."
Posted on December 5, 2006 10:19 AM
Think of all the trees we'd save as well as less gas used for distribution, if more newspaper subscribers opted for the e-edition.
Posted on December 5, 2006 2:22 PM
What do you think the Enchilada's circulation is down to now, Doug? Under 15,000 is my guess. If they get more than $100 people to pay the six bucks a month, I'd be shocked.
I, for one, don't see myself reading the Enchilada on a laptop in bed as I drink my coffee, which is the way I read the paper paper. That is, that's the way I read it when it arrives on time. Lately, it's been frequently late--8 a.m. or better.
As much as I'd like to cancel, I can't miss those freaky letters to the editor. Doug, please tell me there's a mental health facility in High Point where part of the therapy involves sending letters to the HP Enchilada.
Posted on December 5, 2006 5:14 PM
And at a time when circulation has dangerously decreased for the HPE, Tom Blount continues to be in denial about the negative changes made at the paper since the buyout.
Changes that haven't been for the positive, no matter how much he wants to defending them with a stern "NO FREE LUNCH" editorial. Way to go Tom, alienate your readers, that'll drive up readership for sure. Then again, sometimes I think that's the N&R's philosophy too.
You can read most of the New York Times or the Washington Post, or the News and Record for that matter for free.
It's all about free lunch baby. Yummy, tasty, free lunch. And bucking the trend ain't going to work until the major media outlets do it. Not at a shrinking paper.
Posted on December 5, 2006 5:21 PM
You guys are tough. I haven't heard that HPE's circulation has dropped below 20,000. I'd be surprised. It's probably in the low 20s somewhere. But it wasn't that many years ago that it was over 30,000, so it has taken quite a plunge.
I agree that LTE's add a lot of zest to any paper. I happen to know that the current editorial page editor at the HPE keeps a wacky letter file filled with all those that are too weird to publish. He's probably going to put them in a book someday.
Posted on December 5, 2006 5:56 PM