Comments on: A Note to Newspapers

By: mm

mm — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:45:00 +0000

While a micro payment system for newspaper content is a great idea, I would think credit card processing fees may be a problem. Say for example you have individual transactions at 1cent each, well, if you tried to charge a credit card for 1 cent, that one cent would go right in the pocket of the merchant processor.

What the newspaper will have to do instead, is have an internal credit system, where say you buy packs of 100 article credits for x dollars, are charged x dollars for that credit, and then the credits are deducted as you view articles. I’d also suggest charging different rates for printing or emailing an article, and simply viewing an article. Of course, this is going to cause a great deal of trouble for the blogging world, which relies on linking to content from newspapers and other journalism outlets. How will payments affect them? Depending on Context, people have certain rights to reproduce copyrighted material. The whole problem with saving the newspaper business, is that its going to have to require some legislation and possibly trips to the supreme court before any new model can really take off.

By: gordon mayer

gordon mayer — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:20:15 +0000

Wow! you hit a nerve… or of course like 5,000 nerves (since the comments are all over). just wanted to say, I think you are on target. as a WSJ and Chicago Tribune print subscriber, i have noticed that service from both these operations on the subscriber end SUCKS! (fair play to them, WSJ is better then ChiTribune). Really, the message to the subscriber for like forever has been scorn or ignorance — no doubt bean counters determined in the aggregate it’s preferable to have folks pay every month or whatever instead of annually… (which at tribune you can do, but it’s a struggle).

Ironically, in a time when probably the major hurdle news orgs need to overcome is producing stronger content, and monetizing that, they *also* need to re-examine basic business practices like their subscriber operation. If I ran a paper, redoing subscriptions is where I would start.

By: David

David — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:57:03 +0000

Mark,

This is a great read. Not only is it informative, but motivational. Anyone with a true self-starting mind can take this and adapt it into something that they have an interest, whether newspapers, or baseball cards, your concepts are right on.

They are nothing that you might not think about here and there, but it is a thought that you think about, and tell yourself to remember, or write down, but never actually get to it. Today is the first day that I have read your blog, and I am very happy I found it. You write the way you speak, and you speak in a very clear, and easy fashion.

Thanks for this post, and the many others I plan to read.

You are a true entrepreneur. These days, that term gets thrown around too much. For you, it is an understatement.

David K.
Sausalito, Ca

By: I. C. London

I. C. London — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:51:13 +0000

Some great points! There is also a hint of local community service, which the local newspaper could use to its advantage, compared with USA Today or WSJ in the local market. Keep up your great work!

By: Matthew Desario

Matthew Desario — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:28:29 +0000

That’s a great idea. The are already paying for a human being to come to their house, so why not get everything delivered. Concert tickets, Maverick’s willcall tickets (maybe coordinate with stub-hub so that EZPass customers get a discount.)

If they started adding value to the newspaper delivery, I might actually be interested in getting a paper each morning. THe $100 / yr isn’t the reason I don’t–it’s just that i can get the same news via email or the inter-web. GIving me something that i can’t get digitally might actually drive me back to being a paper subscriber, something that they desperately need to do, right?

I read your blog occasionally, and respect that you seem to be enjoying your life. (I’d totally buy a NBA team too if I could afford it)–but every once in a while you remind me why you’re successful. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you (like everyone) get it wrong, but more often you get it really, really right.

By: Newspapers and Baby Rainbows | Chaos Program

Newspapers and Baby Rainbows | Chaos Program — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:34:24 +0000

[...] An open letter by Mark Cuban [...]

By: Bill Densmore

Bill Densmore — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:00:17 +0000

Mark:

You should come talk about this and some of your other ideas for newspapers at: “From Gatekeepers to InfoValets: Work Plans for Sustaining Journalism,” May 27 at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. I’m organizing the event and this is your invitation. Please shoot me an email for details.

Bill Densmore, 2008-2009 Fellow
Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia MO
densmorew@rjionline.org
http://www.infovalet.org

By: Tim Wright

Tim Wright — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:17:10 +0000

If they have your CC on file, meaning you’re a subscriber already, why would you need to pay for an article online?

That might by my own ignorance of how that works, as I just read all my news online.

By: Joed

Joed — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:22:58 +0000

I have been a subscriber to the DMN for over 25 years. I signed up for EZ pay and it has been a nightmare. There have been a series of screw ups. Once you sign up for EZ pay, you can not resolve the problem online. You have to call their put you on hold customer service center. I have given up on reading the ever dwindling paper. I have joined the growing legion of cancelled readers. They can not get their act together. When the DMN folds, I will not be surprised.

By: JB

JB — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:32:13 +0000

“Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.” -Thomas Jefferson