All the news thats fit to pay for

Let's open the news to the back page...

“Flattr is a new thing, now in beta, from one of the founders of Pirate Bay, which would allow readers to pay for content on the Internet. It is a word play on both “to flatter”, and “flatrate”: Users pay a flat rate to Flattr every month….I do not think this will work. From the side of the content creators, this is basically the equivalent of them going round with a tin can to collect alms.” – Tobold,  My Un-Flattr-ing Opinion

Tobold’s complete thoughts on the matter (which you can read at the link) started me thinking about some of our former guests, and one in particular, Mr. Colin Campbell who was the editor for Edge Online Magazine.  One thought leads to another, as they say, and whenever I think about online magazines I also think of the exchange from the Ghostbusters movie:

 Janine Melnitz: You’re very handy, I can tell. I bet you like to read a lot, too.
Dr. Egon Spengler: Print is dead.
Janine Melnitz: Oh, that’s very fascinating to me. I read a lot myself. Some people think I’m too intellectual but I think it’s a fabulous way to spend your spare time. I also play raquetball. Do you have any hobbies?
Dr. Egon Spengler: I collect spores, molds, and fungus.

All the news that’s fit to pay for…

One of the subjects that Mr. Campbell spoke of is the trend for news coming from the internet rather than print.   In the show we talked about what is sometimes a much contested subject - whether or not quality only comes from professional news sources.   In short, quality news, editorial and reviews don’t limit themselves to places where authors are paid in some fashion.  The trend that we can all see is for magazines and newspapers to make their way to the internet from the hard copy presses.  Some, like the New York Times, are moving toward charging for their online content.

But the purview of quality journalism is not limited to the lofty heights wherein reside paid authors.  As we discussed previously on this web site, some of the best authors through history never received a nickle for their work. Big names in publishing that used to grace the streets and bookshelves across the globe, are deciding the place where all the cool kids hang out is the internet.  The fly in the ointment, as grandmother used to say, is that when the kid with the big bankroll hits the internet, they will no doubt find that size doesn’t always count – especially in the area of gaming related journalism.   The problem with gaming journalism is, of course, that by the time the print hits the shelves, it’s already old news  on the internet.  Add into the mix the opinion of the professional developers we talk to who tell us that the people they pay attention to are the bloggers, the community who spends the most time with their product, and I think most of the big kids coming to the internet, who are also the new kids, will find that charging for content will go over like a lead balloon.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather