Paid for news is just like a sore thumb

Right now, news is delivered to our devices free of charge, well, almost free for most anyway. The digital world is associated with free things. Anything less will be taken as against the well being of the society. You get most of the headlines free of charge, but some established media firms are toying with paid news. How would people react? Already two London news providers have turned into paid services. The rest of the band is taking a close look to see whether it would work out at all. But reports are coming in that readers have been bottoming to more than half when the service was free. Obviously, people would not like to pay for something that they have got for free. Unfortunately for news media, people do not want to pay. Why don’t they get advertisers to pay? Search engines have been using the model successfully for years. That is the way things work. Somebody comes along and pick up the tab and the rest get to enjoy them for free! So why can’t they do it with news? Perhaps it is more of a holding cash thing than getting payment from advertisers? Getting cash first hand is always better than getting paid through a third party!

In truth, these news media are trying to test the waters. No harm done if nobody subscribes. They can always change course or close down or perhaps metamorphoses into something else! But no, media companies are addicted to collecting money upfront and that is the way it works. Anyway, they have to answer to their boards and getting food unto the table is what they know best. So pay is the way to go and no two things about it. Still, there is room for experiments. Just imagine? Let the boys get the news. Then put the news block up for auction. The highest bidder can sponsor the news just like any other auction. It is a commodity anyway, and it can be done with just a click of the mouse. Why not? With people picking up the tabs, it becomes a win-win situation. Media companies can then focus on collecting news. Advertisers are happy that they have played a part. And readers like you and me gets the news for free. This is the way to go; free news at your fingertip. Why, we do love to see advertisements don’t we? Anyway, paid news has also not forsaken the adverts. You will be used to it just like most of the web pages now. So I say, free news anytime!