Section 101
All-Star
So it looks like they are charging to read articles now. I got a pop up for ones on their main page.
So long Sacbee.
So long Sacbee.
Sacbee charging now?
- Thread starter Section 101
- Start date
Fear the Putin
Starter
google hit & traffic website suicide
Section 101
All-Star
Just tried again on the first front page article. Took about 30 seconds or so for it to pop up a powered by press box. They want you you join and the cost is as low as .99 cents for a 4 week trial. $69.95 for annual digital access. After closing the window you are directed back to the main page.
At the upper left corner is a Plus Digital Subscription Log in link.
It was inevitable. Print newspapers have been losing money for years. With classified advertising now going the way of the dinosaur, the newspapers have to find a way to generate income or perish.
EDIT: Having said that, I just went there and had no trouble reading articles. (Granted I only read the Sports stuff, so maybe it's different?)
EDIT: Having said that, I just went there and had no trouble reading articles. (Granted I only read the Sports stuff, so maybe it's different?)
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For me, front page stories, stories on other pages, doesn't matter. Everything comes up as normal, no subscription requests. I tried with both Firefox and Safari. Don't know what to say.
(Frankly, I'd love it if the Bee went to a pay model. The one single high-profile web gathering place for the anti-arena nutbars would essentially be out of commission. You know not a single one of them would actually PAY to whine in the comments section all day long.)
kennadog
Dog On It!
This is going to happen. It's inevitable. People kept saying, "why should I buy a paper, when I can read news on the internet./" Well, as print papers disappear, the news won't be free on the internet anymore. Well except for the people who think they are journalists or reporters, byt they haven't heard of journalistic ethics.
Section 101
All-Star
I tried with Firefox and IE, I got it on both. I wonder if they are rolling it out by IP addresses local to Sacramento. I'm at work now and it's not giving me the pop up and redirect.
Dreadnought
Bench
This is hilarious. The Sacbee is one of the worst publications I have ever had the misfortune of reading.
Section 101
All-Star
Just it at work now on firefox.
Section 101
All-Star
Duh, should of thought of blocking it. Pretty stupid how easy it is to block.
Ryan
I like turtles
This choice is inevitable for the Sacbee, but bad for out of city people like me. I stay updated on everything that goes on in Sacramento through the bee; however, I won't be paying. I already pay for the LA times. I guess it's up to KingsFans.com to let me know what's going on in Sac!
bajaden
Hall of Famer
Well I'm not having any problems at all. Can't speak for the future, but if they start charging, it'll be a joke. There's a new story about the Kings in there about every month an a half. J. Jones spends more time on twitter telling everyone why he's not writing than he does writing. He could take some lessons from his associate Matt Barrows, the 49'er beat writer, who posts updates almost daily.
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
You couldn't pay me to read Jason Jones articles. Well, maybe you could, but you'd need to offer me a decent chunk of money.
I hope the Bee starts charging. The sooner they go under the better, as we might then get some real coverage. Even if no one steps in and takes their place I still wouldn't say we've lost anything. What does anyone actually get from the Bee? Game recaps hours after we've already analyzed the game to death? A couple postgame quotes you can easily find elsewhere? Can easily just get Smarts entire postgame Q&A on youtube. Any quality analysis? That comes here and on other blogs/forums. Trade rumors? They're posted here days before Jones ever says anything. Possible lineup changes? We go through every possible lineup, pros and cons, well before Jones writes anything. Player strengths and weaknesses? Is there anyone here who hasn't debated every single player, repeatedly? Offense vs defense? We have posters here who present stats more than some would probably like, and we're all well aware what we get offensively and defensively with various lineups.
If the Bee went under tomorrow nothing would really change imo, except for our players might feel a little more comfortable in the locker room without Voisons prying eyes, and Jones can go back to being a Laker fanboy.
I hope the Bee starts charging. The sooner they go under the better, as we might then get some real coverage. Even if no one steps in and takes their place I still wouldn't say we've lost anything. What does anyone actually get from the Bee? Game recaps hours after we've already analyzed the game to death? A couple postgame quotes you can easily find elsewhere? Can easily just get Smarts entire postgame Q&A on youtube. Any quality analysis? That comes here and on other blogs/forums. Trade rumors? They're posted here days before Jones ever says anything. Possible lineup changes? We go through every possible lineup, pros and cons, well before Jones writes anything. Player strengths and weaknesses? Is there anyone here who hasn't debated every single player, repeatedly? Offense vs defense? We have posters here who present stats more than some would probably like, and we're all well aware what we get offensively and defensively with various lineups.
If the Bee went under tomorrow nothing would really change imo, except for our players might feel a little more comfortable in the locker room without Voisons prying eyes, and Jones can go back to being a Laker fanboy.
jcassio
Starter
Just a reality check: SacBee says (in writing) that if you are already a print subscriber, digital access is included as part of your subscription.
If you're not a print subscriber but you want digital access, it works out to about 23 cents a day (after the first 4 weeks, which you get for nearly free).
It'd be nice if the web could continue to provide us with valuable, free information. But that's not a sustainable business plan.
If you're not a print subscriber but you want digital access, it works out to about 23 cents a day (after the first 4 weeks, which you get for nearly free).
It'd be nice if the web could continue to provide us with valuable, free information. But that's not a sustainable business plan.
Section 101
All-Star
It's no longer a sustainable business period. Times change, but charging for information that can be found for free elsewhere won't last long.
The main problem with a lot of print newspapers is that they were in such a hurry to get all their content online ahead of their competitors that they didn't think things through. Now, with the Internet rapidly making print news as obsolete as typewriters, they're scrambling to find a niche. They've lost most of their classified ad revenue thanks to the likes of craigslist, etc. and a lot of their long-time display advertisers are looking elsewhere for the best bang for their buck.
The one thing they could do is to provide exclusive high-quality content from their own writers, but most of them gave up quality journalism a very long time ago.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
VF21 said:
This is the number one problem for the Bee, and many other papers. There's a reason people will pay to be an ESPN insider. They get infomation they can't get elsewhere. The Bee in general can't even offer good journalists. Their best beat writer is Matt Barrows who covers the 49'ers, and I wonder how long before he heads to greener pastures.
J. Jones is either a very lazy reporter, or the Bee has him multi-tasking. But we get little or nothing from him throughout the summer. Whatever the reason, the Bee ignores the fans of the only major sport in town. In any business, you have to know your customers, and cater to them. It appears the Bee does neither. They deserve whatever fate awaits them.
Rockmeister
All-Star
PurpleHaze
All-Star
Hmmm, where have we heard that before?
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
Amick just wrote a better write up on Cuz than either Jones or Voison have since we drafted him. We learn Cuz is a father from a national writer, when he's been in town off and on all summer and Jones/Voison have access to the practice facility and the players? Just another example of how poor the Kings coverage is with the Bee. You get more analysis from blogs, considerably more information on a daily basis from the blogs, and more indepth articles from a national writer in Amick than our own local writers.
The Bee is subpar when compared to the other Kings blogs, yet those are free, reading Amick at SI is free, and it's almost a con job for the Bee to expect anyone to pay when other sites provide better information, more frequently, for free.
What exactly prevented Jones from doing a similar write up on Cuz? Nothing but apparent laziness.
The Bee is subpar when compared to the other Kings blogs, yet those are free, reading Amick at SI is free, and it's almost a con job for the Bee to expect anyone to pay when other sites provide better information, more frequently, for free.
What exactly prevented Jones from doing a similar write up on Cuz? Nothing but apparent laziness.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
Don't know if you follow the 49'ers or not, but Matt Barrows, the beat writer has an update on the team almost every day throughout the offseason. As I told J. Jones on twitter. If your waiting for a story to knock on your door, you can read it in a Sam Amick article.
rainmaker
Hall of Famer
Don't follow them much as I'm a Raiders fan, and the news I do read about the 9ers is Bay Area based. Doesn't surprise me though.
Does Jones respond to you on twitter? I've told him a number of times to step his game up and do more, and when he says he does enough I link articles to him from other writers/bloggers which show the difference in quantity and quality.
He has since blocked me, lol. I've seen him in a few twitter battles with people calling him out for not doing enough, and his responses are some of the most arrogant I've seen. He acts like a petulant teenager who knows all, and resorts to petty insults when it's shown just how much more indepth guys like Amick, Scott H Cooper, Ziller, the guys at Cowbell Kingdom, among others go into and how much more they put into their work. And like you most likely, I don't agree with everything put out there, but i enjoy the coverage and reading info I would not otherwise have access to. The problem I see is when Jones does finally write anything besides a game recap, is that it's already been written by others, it's old news, and has been discussed at length here and on other forums/blogs. He's regularly behind the ball. He'd apparently rather tweet about playing video games.
BTW, last season he told me on twitter he doesn't read or follow any Kings blogs/forums. He told me he also doesn't read hoopshype. If true, then he really just doesn't have a love for the game, and is quite clueless on the modern sports media landscape. How can you not read any blogs or a site like hoopshype as a journalist? That's where a lot of news comes from, as well as how you can keep tabs on your competition as a writer and see jsut how much effort other beat writers put into their craft. He's living under a rock.
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