It Looks Like the Herald is Going Paywall

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#2229359 2-May-2019 12:49

freitasm:
I have no problem paying for content - I pay for the Washington Post, Guardian and Wired. I have a problem with paying for low quality content. If there's a cost, the editorial needs to be held at even higher standards than before.

I also currently pay for news content, but I'm not signing up to every service and won't be signing up to Herald.

The Herald's NZ news lacks substance (for me, anyway) when compared against the likes of Radio NZ or Newsroom or Spinoff - so I'm not interested in paying for this at the moment. And, so far, for the international stories behind the paywall that look interesting, I have been able to easily able to find these outside of the Herald.

But most damning, their implementation has been lazy at best - they should have put effort into making navigation seamless and user friendly. I'm not interested in having to hunt around a random mess of free and paid content.It's this navigation debacle that' going to keep me away all together. I used to check the Herald 3 or 4 times a day - only once today, and that was to see if they had made any changes to their layout. Unlikely to visit tomorrow - might have a quick look later in the month to see if they have upped their game.

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#2229366 2-May-2019 12:56

I am surprised at people who "check" a news site that many times. I just use RSS for that...

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#2229375 2-May-2019 13:05

Newsroom's use of PressPatron is another alternative to be able to illicit financial support from readers without going the whole hog of a paywall. That said, they also offer Newsroom Pro which requires a paid subscription (perhaps more aimed at a similar crowd to the NBR?).

The launch of Newsroom is one of the best things to happen to the NZ media landscape in the last few years - what they lack in breadth (inevitable, given their relatively small size) they make up for in terms of quality and depth. This thread has encouraged me it's time to put my money where my mouth is (hands are?) and make a contribution via PressPatron.

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#2229387 2-May-2019 13:21

freitasm: I am surprised at people who "check" a news site that many times. I just use RSS for that...

I'm old school. I still even pick up a remote to change the telly channel in preference to shouting out to a Google home.

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#2229389 2-May-2019 13:23

freitasm: I am surprised at people who "check" a news site that many times. I just use RSS for that...

Some of us like to be in control.

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#2229427 2-May-2019 13:30

I think the NZ Herald has very good businesses coverage - e.g. Chris Keall - and that's why I've subscribed. I bought a small number of shares in NZME because I think paywalls are the way of the future, but I wish they had done a soft paywall with X number of free articles per month rather than free vs premium stuff.

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#2229445 2-May-2019 13:35

jonathan18:

... illicit financial support from readers ...

I like what you did there 😉

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

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#2229447 2-May-2019 13:38

A quick search turns up so many ways even noobs can hack the paywall that it isn't funny. This is a classic case of suits with no technical insight making technical decisions. It is so incompetently done that I doubt it can survive even for a year, regardless of the quality (or otherwise) of the content. Here is my house, filled with my valuables. Here is the front door, locked with a 'Do not enter' sign. Here is the key, cleverly hidden under a flower pot. Please Mr burglar, don't take the family jewels. People depend on us for their jobs.

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#2229451 2-May-2019 13:46

Rikkitic:

A quick search turns up so many ways even noobs can hack the paywall that it isn't funny. This is a classic case of suits with no technical insight making technical decisions. It is so incompetently done that I doubt it can survive even for a year, regardless of the quality (or otherwise) of the content. Here is my house, filled with my valuables. Here is the front door, locked with a 'Do not enter' sign. Here is the key, cleverly hidden under a flower pot. Please Mr burglar, don't take the family jewels. People depend on us for their jobs.

I think the key here is the word 'valuable'. I would expect that most folk who deem the to-be-paid for content as premium typically aren't the kind to go hunting out backdoors and hacks. If they perceive value in the content they will pay.

Whereas the kind of people who do like to do that sort of thing probably don't have the same level of interest in those premium articles, maybe they take a quick peek and don't come back. Therefore little revenue loss from that angle for NZ Herald.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

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#2229456 2-May-2019 13:54

Good point but if they take so little trouble over their paywall, one has to wonder how much they take over their journalism.

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jonathan18

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#2229494 2-May-2019 14:43

floydbloke:

jonathan18:

... illicit financial support from readers ...

I like what you did there 😉

Well, it could well be, depending on the origins of the money!

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#2229499 2-May-2019 14:47

Rikkitic:

A quick search turns up so many ways even noobs can hack the paywall that it isn't funny. This is a classic case of suits with no technical insight making technical decisions. It is so incompetently done that I doubt it can survive even for a year, regardless of the quality (or otherwise) of the content. Here is my house, filled with my valuables. Here is the front door, locked with a 'Do not enter' sign. Here is the key, cleverly hidden under a flower pot. Please Mr burglar, don't take the family jewels. People depend on us for their jobs.

I recall Gavin Ellis saying in the interview I linked to earlier that personnel from the Washington Post have been holed up in Akld for a few months to assist the Herald with the introduction of the paywall; whether this includes technical assistance I don't know, but if so it's surprising they've done a cr@p job of it.

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#2229506 2-May-2019 15:04

I cant help but wonder if its not incompetence but the developers thinking "I just dont agree with this....I'll do what they ask....to the bare minimum".

I wait for the Herald to claim its theft if you read the content without a subscription. Is it theft if they sent you the content already?

Rikkitic

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#2229511 2-May-2019 15:12

nzkc:

I wait for the Herald to claim its theft if you read the content without a subscription. Is it theft if they sent you the content already?

That's a fun question. I think there is something in our laws about using protection-defeating software, but what if you don't even have to do that? What if you can do it without modifying anything (not saying you can, of course)?

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Rikkitic

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#2229515 2-May-2019 15:17

jonathan18:

I recall Gavin Ellis saying in the interview I linked to earlier that personnel from the Washington Post have been holed up in Akld for a few months to assist the Herald with the introduction of the paywall; whether this includes technical assistance I don't know, but if so it's surprising they've done a cr@p job of it.

Boy did they get ripped off! The WP people must be splitting their sides. I hope they enjoyed the harbour tours. Not that their own paywall is anything to write home about.

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