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Star-Telegram going behind paywall


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#1 Volare

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 07:28 AM

The Star-Telegram is soon going behind a paywall for all of their online content. Was supposed to have already happened but hasn't yet. Surprised I didn't see this info posted or discussed here. Any thoughts? For me it just means one less source of local info via iPhone and laptop.

#2 Ron Payne

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 10:17 AM

My wife will be disappointed - she spends a good deal of time perusing S-T online. We certainly would never pay for it - too much free info out there.
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#3 johnfwd

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 10:49 AM

I guess ST is having financial problems on account of declining subscriptions. They've been delivering free small-scale versions of their physical paper (composed mainly of ads)in the neighborhoods. ST online does have advertising, but maybe not enough advertising revenue.

#4 Russ Graham

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 11:08 AM

We started subscribing to the paper about a year ago, and I'm glad we did. You wouldn't want to rely on it for all of your daily news - they aren't going to cover the euro debt crisis, or even decent coverage of national issues. But I would say it does somewhere between "mediocre" and "adequate" at covering local news. It's better than say, getting all your local news from FW Weekly.

All in all, we would be a lot worse off if we didn't have a local paper. Even if they routinely get the facts wrong, or cover stories from strange angles, or completely miss the point, it's still the point of departure for many of the discussions we have on this site - and probably many water cooler conversations at work. You don't have the same expectation that everybody watched the same evening news show as you for instance.

Imagine if the ST went under - we'd all have to subscribe to a Dallas paper. Do you think they're going to do a better job of covering Tarrant & FW politics? You'd have to wade through a bunch of "local" stories about Dallas to get to what you care about.

I expect they are finding out that giving away their stories online doesn't bring in the same advertising money as actual circulation does. How many ads do you remember from the last news story you read on ST.com? I've trained my eyeballs not to look at internet ads, and I think most people have learned the same trick.

I think the NY Times tried something similar about a year ago, I don't know how it worked for them. I hope the ST figures something out other than their current course which seems to be firing all the experienced reporters & hiring interns, and getting Bud Kennedy to write fluff pieces to fill in the gaps.

#5 Doohickie

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 12:57 PM

I guess ST is having financial problems on account of declining subscriptions. They've been delivering free small-scale versions of their physical paper (composed mainly of ads)in the neighborhoods. ST online does have advertising, but maybe not enough advertising revenue.


I recently quit subscribing, for two reasons: 1. I just plain got sick and tired of having to search my entire front yard for the paper. The paper carrier drives through the neighborhood and just chucks the papers out the window, and as long as it landed in my front yard, that was good enough for him. It's not good enough for me. And 2. Honestly? We just didn't read it 80% of the time. We typically had 3 or 4, still in the plastic bags, sitting around on any given day.

We started subscribing to the paper about a year ago, and I'm glad we did. You wouldn't want to rely on it for all of your daily news - they aren't going to cover the euro debt crisis, or even decent coverage of national issues. But I would say it does somewhere between "mediocre" and "adequate" at covering local news. It's better than say, getting all your local news from FW Weekly.


I'm not sure I agree with that. FW Weekly tends to cover the stuff I'm most interested in. I kind of like reading the ST online if I feel like it, but I can just as easily get the information from one of the local TV news websites.

All in all, we would be a lot worse off if we didn't have a local paper. Even if they routinely get the facts wrong, or cover stories from strange angles, or completely miss the point, it's still the point of departure for many of the discussions we have on this site - and probably many water cooler conversations at work. You don't have the same expectation that everybody watched the same evening news show as you for instance.


I agree that we would be worse off without the ST, at least at first blush. But on reflection, I'm not sure I agree. I mean, why subscribe to a newspaper that routinely gets the facts wrong, strange angles, etc., etc. What's the point in that?

Imagine if the ST went under - we'd all have to subscribe to a Dallas paper. Do you think they're going to do a better job of covering Tarrant & FW politics? You'd have to wade through a bunch of "local" stories about Dallas to get to what you care about.


Or not subscribe at all. There are increasing sources of online news out there. Even an organization like the ST may cease its print edition eventually, or curtail it to 3-5 days/week. Oddly, I think I'd be more likely to subscribe to it if it only came a few times a week because I wouldn't have as many unread copies laying around.

I expect they are finding out that giving away their stories online doesn't bring in the same advertising money as actual circulation does. How many ads do you remember from the last news story you read on ST.com? I've trained my eyeballs not to look at internet ads, and I think most people have learned the same trick.

I think the NY Times tried something similar about a year ago, I don't know how it worked for them. I hope the ST figures something out other than their current course which seems to be firing all the experienced reporters & hiring interns, and getting Bud Kennedy to write fluff pieces to fill in the gaps.


One thing I've seen some papers do is to leave stories up for just a few days, then archive them. You can see current stories, but if you want to see anything from the archive, you have to pay. Not sure it would be better or worse for their income, but it's an option.
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#6 Brian Luenser

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 04:21 PM

I have been getting the Star Telegram 7 days a week for 32 years. (Amon Carter was just a boy)
My wife and I read it cover to cover every morning over coffee. In my opinion, you cannot be very informed without doing just that. On line and television is not an equivalent. (You don't read online cover to cover. You look at 3 main stories and then move to Facebook.)

I am constantly fighting with the young guys at work that are completely un-informed about everything. Local Politics, Science, Medicine, Crime issues, Local Business issues, local personality's, property tax issues, etc..., etc..., No wonder they vote the way they do. They are "Without Clue". Their lives are just a bunch of poor and random decisions. (Moving their kids into a bad neighborhood, making poor diet decisions, financing their cars for 7 years, etc...)

I think if a person is successful and they don't read a daily newspaper, they are likely just lucky. I don't know how a person could be successful and not be informed. There are plenty of worthwhile reads, like news magazines and the Wall Street Journal etc..., but I think those should only be supplements to a good local newspaper.

I do not like the liberal leaning of the Star Telegram (or most media) but just cannot stop subscribing. (See above rant)

BTW, my paper is at my condo door every morning at 6am. (My wife calls it the complimentary USA Today) $260 complimentary.
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#7 NSFW

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Posted 12 September 2012 - 09:06 PM

The Star-Telegram is a joke! Most of the stories reported about are from various news sources such Associated Press, New York Times and local news channels.

For well over a year ST was publishing a spanish language news paper and throwing it to every house in the neighborhood for free! Every friday! A waste of money! Yet they raised my subscription rate due to "rising cost to publish a paper."

The Yearly Football Edition. WHY???? Another huge waste of money.

I canceled my subscription back in Jan.2006, yet the paper continued to arrive at my doorstep for months.

All newspapers are failing for various reasons, but ST is failing due to poorly written stories with very little local news and poor management decisions. I won't pay for their online edition. They've lost me as a customer.

Adrian


#8 JBB

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 12:58 PM

I'll think about paying for it, but I'll likely be able to find local stories from other sources. Since cancelling my subscription years ago, I've used their website to read local news only for the most part.

I had a similar experience as others here have said. I took the paper daily for years and found that most of the time I couldn't read it in the morning and the news was dated by the time I made it home from work. I cancelled my service through the paper's customer service department. My carrier continued to throw a paper daily for about 4 months, scaled back to weekends for 6 months, and threw Sundays only for a few months after that. I didn't pay a dime during that time and it took more than a year for the papers to stop. About 2 years ago, the S-T started throwing a bag full of ads in my yard every Saturday. I've tried to get that to stop 2 different times with no success. It usually sits in my yard until I put it out with the trash on Monday morning.

#9 Ron Payne

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 01:25 PM

We get that same free "bag o' crap" at our house in Haslet, our EMPTY house in Haslet, so I have to go pick it up and throw it away every week because it clutters up the yard when we're trying to sell the house. Odd thing is we've NEVER subscribed to the S-T, so why are they delivering to our house?

I think the general consensus of 'poor management' is right on the money (pardon the half-pun)
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#10 Doohickie

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 03:40 PM

They've started delivering a once-a-week edition to everyone on my neighborhood that does not subscribe (apparently). I think it comes on Wednesday. I've considered saving them, then dumping them in the driveway of their printing center or something. If someone accuses me of littering, I'd reply that then they should fine the ST for littering too, cuz that's where these all came from.

No, I won't really do that, but it's aggravating. In fact the most aggravating thing is, these free editions always show up on my driveway near the sidewalk. EVERY time. When I was paying for the paper, I never knew where it end up in my yard from one day to the next.
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#11 Doohickie

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 10:46 AM

Well, well, well.

The ST called yesterday and asked whether I would take the paper at a reduced rate. I pay for Sat/Sun and get seven day delivery. I said, sure, why not and requested delivery on my porch. Let's see what ensues.
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#12 John S.

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 12:00 PM

Almost all larger city dailies are going to an online paywall model...for most, it's a matter of financial survival. Expect more consolidation and less local content in newspapers both online and paper versions as a result of this trend. Just as email has cost the Post Office billions in revenue, online free versions of newspapers have cost newspaper companies a lot of money. The question is, will people willingly pay for online versions? (which will still be packed with all the advertizing that can be squeezed on the screen) Obviously, this question has been given some thought and detemined to be more profitable with a paywall than with free access. I'd consider an online subscription if it is very low in cost (in the range of a couple of dollars per month) but otherwise will get my local news elsewhere. At least due to apparent cost-cutting I no longer have to pick up free Spanish language versions of the S-T blowing and scattered around our and our neighbor's yards.

#13 mmiller2002

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 01:19 PM

I am constantly fighting with the young guys at work that are completely un-informed about everything. Local Politics, Science, Medicine, Crime issues, Local Business issues, local personality's, property tax issues, etc..., etc..., No wonder they vote the way they do. They are "Without Clue". Their lives are just a bunch of poor and random decisions. (Moving their kids into a bad neighborhood, making poor diet decisions, financing their cars for 7 years, etc...)



It's a losing battle. They have Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Yahoo, Wikipedia, etc. that are considered accurate sources. Not even daily network news comes into play.

#14 Volare

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Posted 16 September 2012 - 02:30 PM

I wonder if once the Star Telegram is gone if the Dallas Morning News will turn into the DFW Morning News.

#15 mmiller2002

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Posted 16 September 2012 - 04:03 PM

I wouldn't drop my subscription.
If I did, I'd get crumbs and food grease all over my keyboard as I read while eating meals.
And, I don't want to spend that much more time in front of a screen.
The paper is quick and absorbs liquids better than a keyboard.
;-)

#16 Avenue

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Posted 16 September 2012 - 10:03 PM

Hello, everyone. I've been reading this forum for years, so I feel like I know many of you in a way. I worked in the Star-Telegram newsroom for a long time, and now that I am a former Star-Telegram employee, I feel like I'm free to talk about the paper in a public venue like this and provide an insider's perspective.

Many of you, in this discussion thread or others, bemoan the declining quality of the Star-Telegram. I tell you what: I am right there with you. We in the newsroom were acutely aware of how quickly the paper was going downhill, and it was incredibly painful to watch it unravel before our eyes -- especially for those of us who had been there a long time and invested so much of ourselves in it. About five years ago or so, the newsroom (the journalists) had about 360 employees. Now there are about 120. No matter what business you’re in, when you cut two-thirds of your staff, the product is going to suffer.

So the Star-Telegram ended up with reporters having to take on the beats (assignments) that, before, two or three people handled. (e.g. before, each school district was assigned one reporter, plus three for Fort Worth ISD, and now it’s down to just one or two education reporters total.) As they got stretched thin, more and more news was bound to fall through the cracks just because the reporters didn’t have time to build relationships and know the community as well. Even story ideas they did notice, like the larger picture issues, they didn’t necessarily have time to pursue because they were so busy with the day-to-day stuff, which could get sloppy too. Investigative reporting was a luxury we could no longer afford – and that loss was a detriment to Fort Worth, who needs journalists keeping the powerful people accountable. The copy desk (proofreaders) was drastically cut as well, and without that safety net, more and more errors get into print. Photography, graphics, online – no department was spared. At any rate, while criticism of the journalism at the Star-Telegram is certainly valid, I want to point out that there are still a lot of talented, exceptionally dedicated people there, trying their best to do right by Fort Worth but stuck in an impossible situation.

Why did things get so bad? A number of you have alluded to the Internet, and that’s a big part of it (though not all). Basically, more and more people are getting their news online (or on phones) instead of in the printed paper. It’s largely a generational thing, and print readers are gradually (but literally) dying off. But that on its own wouldn’t be a huge problem, because the Star-Telegram’s readership has actually consistently risen for five to ten years now, if you count readers on all platforms. The decline in print readership has been outpaced by the rise in online readership. The problem, though, is that the newspaper industry hasn’t figured out how to make money from websites. Online ads bring in a tiny fraction of the revenue that print ads do. And Craigslist has decimated classifieds, which were at least a third of the revenue in the traditional model. (I don’t blame Craigslist – heck, I use it when I need to sell something. Like in many other areas, newspapers dug their own grave by being slow to adapt.)

Meanwhile, the print advertising, which was already bringing in less money anyway because ad revenue is directly tied to circulation, took some huge hits during the recession. So many advertisers, most notably car dealerships, had to reduce or eliminate their advertising, much of which still hasn’t returned. Plus, any time a national advertiser went out of business (e.g. Circuit City), those were $1 million-ish-per-year accounts that vanished. So the Star-Telegram (like other newspapers), already wobbly because of the Internet, got knocked on its back by the recession.

And yet it gets even more complicated. Almost all newspapers faced that 1-2 punch, but the Star-Telegram has another burden. In the mid-2000s, its corporate parent, Knight Ridder, was bought by a smaller newspaper chain, McClatchy. It was a leveraged buyout with terrible timing, because the recession hit right afterward, and whatever plan they had for paying off the debt was thrown out the window. Now McClatchy has $1.5 billion with a b in debt, and since its revenue isn't increasing, it cuts costs. And it keeps cutting. And cutting. This is why the Star-Telegram is in much worse shape than The Dallas Morning News. The Morning News also had the problems with shrinking print readership and advertising, but they’ve recovered with the economy, and they’re hiring again. The Star-Telegram recovered too – it’s actually one of the most profitable papers in the company – but all those profits get sent to California to pay off McClatchy’s debt.

That leads us to the topic that started this thread, the paywall. The Star-Telegram is really in a tough spot. No one likes to pay for stuff online (including me), and the Star-Telegram knows it. They know that lots of people will turn to TV or give up. But on the other hand, this whole business model of giving away your product for free isn’t working out too well either. I’m not too confident that the paywall will work, and many Star-Telegram people would agree, but they have to try something.

So, even though I'm upset about the way the Star-Telegram has contributed to its own misery (don't get me started on the poor management), I still hope it turns the corner and thrives once again. For 100-plus years, it has played a vital role in the fabric of Fort Worth, and even in its current bare-bones state, it still has the largest news-gathering organization in Tarrant County by far. I welcome competition -- the more quality journalism the better for our community -- but if the Star-Telegram went under, it would be a long time before anything would have the resources to fill the gap.

Oddly, I think I'd be more likely to subscribe to it if it only came a few times a week because I wouldn't have as many unread copies laying around.


Finally, to any of you considering canceling your subscriptions because you don't have time to read the paper: First of all, I understand. I'm a news junkie and I don't have time to keep up with the news. But I encourage you, if you still get something out of the paper when you do have time for it, take advantage of the scaled-back subscription plans. You can get it for as little as two days a week. I'm not saying pay for something you don't read -- but don't cancel something you would read, either.

Thanks for hearing me out and reading till the end. I enjoy all of your civil, thoughtful conversations on all of these many Fort Worth topics, and I appreciate that you all care so much about our city. And thanks, John, for making this "gathering place" possible.

#17 Volare

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 09:32 AM

Thanks for sharing your inside perspective. I hope you and so many others in the industry are able to land on your feet.

#18 Doohickie

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 09:50 AM

That was a great read, Avenue. Thanks.

Well, I've gotten the ST for three days now: Day 1- on my porch as requested. Day 2- on my porch. Day 3- in the flower bed about two steps from my porch. We'll see what happens in Day 4 and beyond.
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#19 mmiller2002

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 01:05 PM

That was a great read, Avenue. Thanks.

Well, I've gotten the ST for three days now: Day 1- on my porch as requested. Day 2- on my porch. Day 3- in the flower bed about two steps from my porch. We'll see what happens in Day 4 and beyond.


For a long time, I have thought that paper delivery job is thankless. Bad hours, weather, flinging a sometimes heavy paper awkwardly out the window of a moving car, with rain and cold blowing in. just think how sore your arm would get! It can't possibly be cost effective for them to deliver to your porch!

I used to help a friend deliver papers by bike. The pay was pennies, and still, he had to beg his subscribers to pay him what they owed.

#20 360texas

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 09:49 AM

We have been taking the FWST daily for the last 20 years or so. Wife and I are retired and on fixed income. We appreciated it when we were able to receive Senior subscription rates to continue the daily paper. Helps balance our budget. We enjoy reading the morning paper over coffee. We like reading the local news and getting the Sunday ads.

We use our desktop computers for the international world and national news. We use the free CNN and Reuters websites. We use our smart phones AS TELEPHONES - not for web browsing.

We did use the automated vacation START/STOP but the automated process NOW does NOT offer a credit for undelivered papers. You must now CALL in and talk with a person to have undelivered papers credited to your account. We just returned from a short trip to Mexico - and appreciate getting a CREDIT on our newspaper subscription rate.

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#21 David Love

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 09:39 PM

I'm an online news junkie, I probably consume 15 to 45 articles a day, 7 days a week, TV versions of news consumes 15-20% of my TV watching.

Subscribe to more than 10 tree based magazines.

My Star-Telegram article consumption has decreased more than 75% in the last year or two, tired of the ads taking up my screen space, when I see multiple options for the same article and ST is amongst them, I often choose something else.

Does it mean ST is less of a news source? No. It's just not convenient for me, for the way I digest information, the kind of information I pull from ST is not the kind of information I'd normally pay for. Fort Worth Business Press, Dallas Business Press, I'll pay for that, maybe the ST some day in the future but not today.

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#22 JBB

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Posted 27 September 2012 - 02:54 PM

I noticed yesterday that the S-T's iPhone app is behind the paywall. Or at the least, behind the registration. And the login that I normally use on their website is not working on the app.

#23 gdvanc

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 10:45 PM

Regarding McClatchy, I don't think the geographical consolidation we've seen from companies like that can reduce costs enough to be of much value. So you consolidate some administration and perhaps some print production, but where else do you save? The things that give the local paper an advantage over other sources of information have to be produced locally and I imagine that work comprises a significant amount of their costs. The things that maybe don't have to be done locally - national political news, world news, movie reviews, travel reviews, and so on - readers can get from multiple sources and generally for free.


An approach more like Belo did for a while made more sense to me and I thought would have allowed them to take advantage of what broadcast and print media have in common to produce a story in various forms across channels (print, radio, and tv) and to tie those together in various ways. In the end they spun off the newspaper business so that didn't work as well as I thought it might. Perhaps they found printing papers unnecessary as (from a broadcaster's perspective) they could get most of that tie-in with articles posted to their web site. And maybe that's where it all heads; as newspapers continue to struggle, perhaps local broadcast outlets increase what they provide online. There's less need for them to generate much income from their online presence if they're still making money selling ads on tv and radio. However, if that online presence serves only as an alternative way to access their broadcast news, that won't replace what we'll be losing if the local paper goes under. How many minutes a day of local news does a station produce? Not much.

#24 johnfwd

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 08:01 AM

I believe ST started its paywall today. Can't get past the opening page to read content unless you subscribe. Boo.

#25 tamtagon

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 09:12 AM

... Investigative reporting was a luxury we could no longer afford – and that loss was a detriment to Fort Worth, who needs journalists keeping the powerful people accountable. The copy desk (proofreaders) was drastically cut as well, and without that safety net, more and more errors get into print.

...The problem, though, is that the newspaper industry hasn’t figured out how to make money from websites.

... Now McClatchy has $1.5 billion with a b in debt, ...


Changes from paper delivery to online delivery is the same challenge for all news and information providers, but I don't think mode of delivery is the reason newspapers struggle to making money from online content. The FCC has not enforce the Fair Doctrine for a 20+ years and since then the line between news and entertainment has steadily vanished.

As long as delivery services are not required to present unbiased, undiluted information from a neutral point of view, advertisers and consumers cannot be expected to pay for the extra effort of verification and the critical elimination of bias. Sources that once delivered News have been decimated by the ulterior motive to sell advertising and points of view. Should the FCC reinstate enforcement of an updated and dynamic Fairness Doctrine, entities like the Star-Telegram will have a purpose again.

#26 Nitixope

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 11:53 AM

I’m a big news fan (reader, listener, watcher) and this comment may sound a little shallow…but I typically only buy the Sunday paper for the coupons and that is rather infrequent at best because it seems that the coupons lately are just not what they used to be or maybe I'm getting picker on what I buy and where.

In years past (in another major city where I lived) one of the local restaurant chains would have an occasional buy one get one free and some $5 or 20% off coupons that we enjoyed using. If the S-T could partner with local restaurant chains and grocery stores and have real specials made exclusive only to print readers even during the weekday, I think I would be more inclined to get a subscription and would also enjoy some of the local news articles. If they made that happen often enough, the coupons would pay for the subscription.

Just the other day (Monday) I met a friend for dinner and happened to get a B.O.G.O. free coupon by email from a place in Arlington which made picking where to go easy and let me pay for both of us. The girl working there said over half of the people that night were using that coupon.

Just an idea.

#27 Russ Graham

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 12:12 PM

I for one enjoyed my actual newspaper this morning. Our own Mr. Luenser had a quote in one of the sections, supporting the City Council & Mayor's recent vote on the pension plan.

#28 360texas

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 03:01 PM

As far as FWST going behind a paywall - there are alot of other substitue internet options like free up to the hour CNN and Reuters. Have you ever look at the bi-lines to see the source of the articles ? Please count the number of articles written by local FWST correspondence... how many are just reprints of Reuters and CNN folks. These two websites do what appears to be NEW STUFF ON TOP... and a weekly news cycle. Newer stuff just gets added on top.. and yesterdays news just slides down the list and drops off after a week or so. And there is a search engine that lets me browse around the archives for CNN and Reuters news releases about "Man on Mars".

Yes there are a few advertising ads and we look at those too.

Wife and I ALSO enjoy reading the paper version of FWST over morning coffee.

What works really does work.

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#29 JBB

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Posted 27 October 2012 - 03:51 PM

It's not real hard to get around the pay wall on the website. After clicking on a link to a story, hit the stop button on your browser before it brings up the login screen and you can read the entire story. Or even after the the login screen comes up, the entire story is still visible in the background. It' faded considerably, so it might be hard for the elderly amongst us to read it, but it's there.

#30 johnfwd

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 08:00 AM

It's not real hard to get around the pay wall on the website. After clicking on a link to a story, hit the stop button on your browser before it brings up the login screen and you can read the entire story. Or even after the the login screen comes up, the entire story is still visible in the background. It' faded considerably, so it might be hard for the elderly amongst us to read it, but it's there.

Well, apparently no need to hit a stop button, or anything. I don't know what's going on with this newspaper, but evidently the paywall has now been lifted. I just tried it (I don't have a subscription) on more than one story and the story popped up.

#31 Joshw

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Posted 02 November 2012 - 12:47 PM

I don't think the newspaper whats going on with itself, at this point.

#32 David Love

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Posted 03 November 2012 - 11:39 AM

I think they're going to have to start developing content worthy of syndication which is a tall order for a local paper unless you take the Mayberry R.F.D. tack.

Perhaps if they tried the NYT or WSJ tack that granted a set number of articles for free, then allowed 1 paragraph teasers for the rest, if you really wanted to see what's behind curtain number one you ponied up the 2.99 per month charge.

For those with a gap in your news sources you may find GoodNoows.com of value, you can preselect all the news sources you desire, with about a dozen view options from Pinterest to Intel views, nifty side tabs for sections "each" of which are customizable. I like the feature of news articles being time stamped with the newest popping up top during each programmable refresh so when you're pulling from 50+ sources and check news often you're always relevant. If you're a once a day scanner you'll definitely want to go for fewer sources. ...but it is nice to be able to cull those agencies that morph their content per audience.

Better Business Bureau:  A place to find or post valid complaints for auto delerships and maintenance facilities. (New Features) If you have a valid gripe about auto dealerships, this is the place to voice it.


#33 David Love

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Posted 04 November 2012 - 11:04 AM

Just as digital cameras made every other person a photographer, an internet connection and camera phone has made every citizen a potential journalist. The way our news agencies have conducted themselves during this election and the last has shown us that journalistic integrity has gone the way of Kodachrome film. The battle that remains will be fought between news organizations that create the news and those that aggregate what actually happens in cities and neighborhoods, vetted and transmitted by responsible citizens, to and through news portals, the ones that are now transplanting newspapers.

I'm just surprised that news casts are outlasting newspapers. Illiteracy is no more, do we really need someone to READ us the news? I think the UK is ahead of us on this one they already call them news readers. I think Americans have outgrown the need to have someone read them a story so they can better understand the world around them.

Better Business Bureau:  A place to find or post valid complaints for auto delerships and maintenance facilities. (New Features) If you have a valid gripe about auto dealerships, this is the place to voice it.


#34 JKC

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Posted 04 November 2012 - 03:09 PM

Just as digital cameras made every other person a photographer, an internet connection and camera phone has made every citizen a potential journalist. The way our news agencies have conducted themselves during this election and the last has shown us that journalistic integrity has gone the way of Kodachrome film. The battle that remains will be fought between news organizations that create the news and those that aggregate what actually happens in cities and neighborhoods, vetted and transmitted by responsible citizens, to and through news portals, the ones that are now transplanting newspapers.

I'm just surprised that news casts are outlasting newspapers. Illiteracy is no more, do we really need someone to READ us the news? I think the UK is ahead of us on this one they already call them news readers. I think Americans have outgrown the need to have someone read them a story so they can better understand the world around them.


Pretty much sums my current feeling regarding news sources. Still digesting the "keep the powerful people accountable" comment above. I sometimes worry as much who is holding journalism accountable...

#35 360texas

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Posted 15 December 2012 - 09:51 AM

In 2010 the full subscription rate for with a 12 month 7 day a week for $239.40. Senior subscription rate of $179.55.
In 2011 the rates did not change.
In 2012 the rate increased to 263.28. Called their service telephone number to ask why the rate increase.

The FWST lady was very polite and said the electronic version price was automatically added to our account.
After much discussion we both agreed to opt out of the e-paper version. That reduced our Senior rate back down to a reasonable $174.97.
The small price variations are due a few Vacation Stop Credits applied during 2012.

Also the newspaper is adding a new feature called Premium Content Sections. I ask what this was for and provide and example of what it looked like.
For us.. the newspapers +all the retail sales advertisments all looked the same. She said it was an insert with retail discounts coupons adv. Cost $1.00
We agreed to opt out on that one too. Personally the $1.00 looked to me like just another revenue stream for the newspaper company.

Thought y'all might like to know this FWST subscription pricing information.

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#36 johnfwd

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 02:01 PM

I wish the Star-Telegram would make up its mind as to the permanency of this firewall.  This morning I successfully downloaded an article without being a subscriber.  This afternoon the firewall is back up and I can't access the article I previously downloaded.  So if any of you are not subscribers you can't even go back to read previous articles downloaded in this Forum (I think).  Maybe they're giving on-and-off "trial use" periods.



#37 dangr.dave

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Posted 26 January 2013 - 09:18 PM

I think that is the case.  Some days, I can read the articles and other days I cannot. 



#38 johnfwd

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Posted 04 April 2013 - 07:05 AM

I know the Star-Telegram needs revenue, whatever the source, to survive. But I just wonder if our local paper is really getting any sustainable financial support with this "pay wall."  I bet if we did a poll on this Forum, the results would be only a handful of members are subscribing on-line.  Unfortunately for S-T, it's a victim of "free readership" on the Web.  You can get your local news without subscription from the Fort Worth Business Press, FW Weekly, even the websites of the area radio and TV stations.  Unfortunately for us Forum members, the S-T link is no longer viable (you can provide the link but if few here can access the article, forget it!).  And S-T is still a good source for local news--like the other day's city council decision to support the Cotton Belt regional rail line.



#39 John T Roberts

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Posted 04 April 2013 - 08:06 AM

I wonder what would happen to forum readership and responses if we just said the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (or any other website) had a story about XYZ project in a neighborhood and then left it to the forum members to find it and read it?  This would mean that we would not be linking to any copyrighted material.



#40 JBB

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Posted 04 April 2013 - 08:17 AM

I'm not paying to read online and I won't.  As noted earlier, their paywall still has plenty of holes that allow you to read all of their online content.  Using the stop button on your browser stops the redirection to the paywall login.  On their mobile site, if you hit the back button after the redirect, it goes straight back to the story.  The only place I've seen where it's water tight is on their iPhone app.



#41 johnfwd

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Posted 04 April 2013 - 08:56 AM

I wonder what would happen to forum readership and responses if we just said the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (or any other website) had a story about XYZ project in a neighborhood and then left it to the forum members to find it and read it?  This would mean that we would not be linking to any copyrighted material.

Some time ago I read your guidelines about citing the source, including the name of the article's author, and actually including the link so we an see for ourselves.  Thought it made good sense, especially since its a careless habit of many posters on other media websites to misread or misinterpret what they have read.  And lawyers (myself included) are much against "hearsay" as authoritative evidence.  If you allowed the practice of linking to the actual source to be abandoned, I believe this Forum would be nothing more than a chat room replete with misinformation, unsubstantiated rumors, and innuendo.   



#42 Tacoma

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Posted 04 April 2013 - 09:43 AM

I'm still not sure what I'm paying for.  I was prompted to enter my login information a few weeks after signing up on one computer I use.  My tablet and work computer have never needed a login.  And on the one computer that did request the login, I get more popups then I do on either of my other computers/tablet.

 

It seems pointless to even have a subscription considering that I can apparently read the tablet e-edition without any subscription and I get the full paper for free.  All I would possibly miss were the crazy comments people make.



#43 johnfwd

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Posted 04 April 2013 - 11:50 AM

So if there are the loopholes allowing access to their articles, as described by JBB and Tacoma, why does the Star-Telegram bother to make it difficult for some but not others?



#44 JBB

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Posted 06 November 2013 - 04:14 PM

I'm not able to link to the article behind the paywall, but the Star Telegram announced today that they plan to shutter their printing facility near Edgecliff and move their printing operations to the Plano facility that also prints the Dallas Morning News and local distributions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. 



#45 cjyoung

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Posted 06 November 2013 - 05:55 PM

Time for a new Fort Worth newspaper.



#46 johnfwd

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Posted 07 November 2013 - 08:46 AM

I believe most of us hindered by the paywall have discovered you can still read the articles by scrolling down using your mouse pad.  At least I've been successful in that regard.



#47 JBB

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Posted 07 November 2013 - 09:37 AM

Apple's AP Mobile app allows you to read almost any article from the S-T free of charge. 

 

As for a new Fort Worth paper, I doubt anybody wants to start up a non-profit in a dying industry at this point. 



#48 RD Milhollin

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Posted 07 November 2013 - 06:51 PM

 

As for a new Fort Worth paper, I doubt anybody wants to start up a non-profit in a dying industry at this point. 

 

 Maybe the FW Business Press and Fort Worth Weekly could combine forces for a new daily paper... Don't know where they could get their sports feed from though  :rolleyes:

 

Something for everyone?



#49 hankjr

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Posted 08 November 2013 - 08:27 AM

The Star Telegram panders to the left. I still subscribe and will continue as long as current carrier can put it on my driveway. I long for the days when there was, in my opinion, honest news from the Amon Carter ownership. maybe they had an agenda, but nothing like the current McClatchy organization. Now they will be printed by the Dallas Morning News plant.



#50 JBB

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Posted 08 November 2013 - 09:50 AM

 

 Maybe the FW Business Press and Fort Worth Weekly could combine forces for a new daily paper... Don't know where they could get their sports feed from though  :rolleyes:

 

 

I doubt anyone would notice.  The S-T barely covers sports these days.






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