Is it wrong that I sort of ... almost ... agree with Rupert Murdoch on newspapers charging for content?
Though I suppose it could only work if news-providers went into it all together, simultaneously, en masse. I'm not at all convinced that current numbers point to an inevitable Jurassic-style print-media die-off. Some of those bad numbers are temporary recession bad numbers, not permanent digital-transition bad numbers. But actually being paid for journalism would give us a cushion. And a more comfortable one than, for example, being federally subsidized. And it wouldn't at all be like price-fixing! No collusion here, officer. None. [bats eyes seductively]
That'll be ten dollars please.
In unrelated news, a new unblurred District 9 trailer is out. Which raises the unanswerable question: why did they release a blurred one?
So, the guy who saddled newspapers the world over with the debt it took to aquire them is giving advice on how to save them?
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That's going to end about as well as the Baltar Administration.
Church
May. 7, 2009 13:41:pm
at 13:41:pm
I'll not suffer this base mockery
Lev Grossman
May. 7, 2009 15:11:pm
at 15:11:pm
Rupert Murdoch is definately a Cylon. And you like his on-line plans? Way to sell out humanity there, Lev Baltar...
Kemper
May. 7, 2009 15:30:pm
at 15:30:pm
Yes, yes it is very wrong to agree with the Rupert Murdoch-Cylon.
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Oh, and mock, mock, mock.
gmiverson
May. 7, 2009 18:18:pm
at 18:18:pm
Mike Masnik over at Techdirt put up a great roundup on this subject (responding to the Congressional Hearings.)
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090507/0355164778.shtml
I'm not sure if Mike's seen BSG. I'll have to ask him.
Church
May. 7, 2009 18:21:pm
at 18:21:pm
Why did they release a blurred one? Because they know how to play us like a fiddle.
Cliff
May. 7, 2009 19:35:pm
at 19:35:pm
I was hoping that the actual movie was going to have the pixelated faces, like they couldn't get them to sign releases. I guess I shouldn't hope that.
dennitzio
May. 7, 2009 21:01:pm
at 21:01:pm
Posted too soon. At the risk of sounding like the Techdirt fan I am, they have a post on this very plan up.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090507/1037234781.shtml
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John Cavil is a Rupert Murdoch analog. Discuss.
Church
May. 7, 2009 21:21:pm
at 21:21:pm
And just to prove I'm not a one-trick pony: Walter Pincus on the same:
http://www.cjr.org/essay/newspaper_narcissism_1.php?page=all
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He doesn't quite say it the way I do, but he pretty much nails the distinction between 'reporters' and 'journalists.'
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All-in-all, he's got a very Helo vibe going on there...
Church
May. 7, 2009 22:51:pm
at 22:51:pm
this dude is not wrong ...
Lev Grossman
May. 8, 2009 00:04:am
at 00:04:am
I think its possible they released a non-blured version because theyr recieved complants from up top. I thought the blurred version was on purpose because essentially we were seing the footage of the interview/interrogation. I felt that the aliens were refugees and identity was needed to be a secret for some reason. Maybe it was a failed attempt at something else I am not certian.
lostepic
May. 8, 2009 05:20:am
at 05:20:am
Of course if you do this would not the medium in which you publish, if no paper is in existence, be more expensive to employ because the employees that create the site will vie for an extra dollar since the news company is getting more money?
lostepic
May. 8, 2009 09:03:am
at 09:03:am
@lostepic - A new company could afford a lot of extra dollars. The problem with, e.g., the Boston Globe isn't that it can't turn a profit per se, it's that it can't turn a profit *while paying off the billion dollar debt* that it got saddled with when it was bought.
Church
May. 8, 2009 09:49:am
at 09:49:am
@Church: Yeah, I figure that, however, I still see it turning into a headache before it results in anything substantial. Not too mention, the now infamous misinformation in journalism in the UK even in parts of Australia and India. Journalists not verifying the source and trusting Wikipedia. The first rule you learn in library research in college is wikipedia is not a reliable source. Ever.
lostepic
May. 8, 2009 11:12:am
at 11:12:am
@lostepic - It's being done in the US already. See, e.g., Talking Points Memo.
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Of course, even the mainstream media sometimes winds up fraking Baltar in the men's room.
Church
May. 8, 2009 12:21:pm
at 12:21:pm
@Church: Dude. I think your obsessed with BSG, but the reference...priceless. I commented earlier on the Hannity incident with Obama's Dijon preference. The media, whether they lean left or right, are at many times off their rocker. Like Tori last season. Dude, I dont have my jaw drop too often, I tend to be quick on seeing whats going to happen and seeing the sublties, but dude, Tori left my mouth gapping what she did to Cally.
lostepic
May. 9, 2009 05:42:am
at 05:42:am
Whilst you may not agree with Murdoch or his methods, he still has a voice with significant volume in terms of media ownership.
As such his views cannot be ignored. Whether Murdoch genuinely has the depth of content to be able to charge for some of his mainstream, mass-media content remains to be seen.
richclark
Sep. 22, 2009 18:38:pm
at 18:38:pm