We announced "metering" of thekansan.com recently, and that has raised some both reader questions — and some ire. This is one of those times when no matter what decision we make, someone will be angry. Take the user from facebook above. She doesn't want us to sell ads, but she doesn't want to pay a subscription fee either. As of Thursday, we will do both — just as we do for the print edition. We do have to make money — we are a business.
People are used to getting news for "free." I use quotes there, because I have never believed there is any free source of news. Consumers pay for something, somewhere along the line to access news. That might mean purchase of equipment, subscription to news organizations or delivery systems (think cable, Internet service providers, satellite radio providers and the like). News organizations and media companies are businesses, with employees and expenses to pay. That fact is what has led to online metering — it's the new thing in the newspaper industry. Some have gone to full-blown paywalls, but we don't think that's the best way to go.
A paywall would not allow readers to see anything, at all. In our model, readers will get to see breaking news, obits, video and blogs unfettered. News, sports and other sections will be metered. Each user gets 15 free pages each month. After that, there is a monthly or annual subscription fee to pay — depending on your choice.
Now, on to questions:
Why do I need to pay for content on thekansan.com? For several years now
anyone who wanted to see all the content on thekansan.com had the ability to do so.
That’s a strategy that built the website into what it is today, but it’s also a strategy that is not a sustainable business model. It costs a lot of money to manage and produce the content we place on the website, and the shift to sell subscriptions for full site access will help ensure the newspaper will continue to be able to provide for readers in the future.
What can I see for free? Our breaking news sections, multimedia and obituaries
are among the sections that will continue to be free.
What will I have to pay for? After reading 15 stories in specific sections, readers
will be asked to pay a monthly or annual subscription to gain unlimited digital
access for the site. Those sections include sports, features and lifestyles content, as
well as news and community sections accessed after the homepage.
If I subscribe to the print newspaper, will I still have to pay online? No, your
print subscription includes digital access. When prompted, select access for print
subscribers to set up a username and password for free access.
My whole family reads the paper. Can more than one family member be
covered by the online subscription? Families can share a subscription to the
newspaper’s website, but there will be only one login per customer.
How much content can I see without having to pay? Bear in mind that many
of the highest-trafficked portions of our website continue to be accessed for free,
including breaking news, obituaries videos, photo galleries and blogs. Beyond these
features, visitors will be able to read 15 articles a month in the for-pay sections.
If I read one story, then go back to check comments on it again, will that count
toward the 15 pages of content I get to view for free? No. Views of the same page
will not be counted more than once.
How do I pay to get an online subscription? It’s easy to sign up. When you view
your second article in a paid section you’ll be asked if you want to subscribe for full
site access. You can do so with a credit card through Press+’s secure website. Or, you
can wait to make the decision to subscribe until you’ve read 15 articles in the paid
sections. Access is instantaneous upon payment.
Why did you choose to allow readers only 15 articles before they have to
subscribe for full site access? We wanted to make sure infrequent visitors weren't forced to subscribe immediately. We want people to have the opportunity to get a sample of the content we provide daily without having to subscribe immediately. We may experiment with the threshold that makes the most sense for our site, but for now we are sticking with 15 articles.
What is Press+? Press+ is our e-commerce system for digital subscriptions. When
you subscribe to thekansan.com, you will create a Press+ account, and Press+ will
charge your credit card for the subscription amount. The charge will appear on your
credit card statement as “Press Plus” in the amount of your subscription.
Is the popup “subscribe” window a secure URL? Yes. If you right-click on the
window and “view frame info” or “frame source,” you'll see it's an https URL.
How will digital subscriptions be billed? We accept major credit cards. Subscriptions
are billed every 30 days for monthly subscriptions or every 360 days for annual
subscriptions. Your subscription renews automatically, and you are charged in
advance of each billing cycle unless you cancel. Note: Because Press+ is managing
the billing for your digital subscription, the charge on your credit card statement
will say “Press Plus” rather than The Newton Kansan.
Can I pay by check, invoice, or PayPal? No. All payments are via credit card.
What is the cancellation policy? You will be able to cancel your subscription at any
time. When you cancel, we will stop charging your account the following billing
cycle. Your unlimited access will continue for the remainder of the current 30-day
period.
There are days I like this job. There are days I don’t. There are days I love it — and Thursday was one of those.
I was standing outside of Sunset Elementary School, asked to share a special moment of a family’s life. Daddy was coming home from active duty after a year away. He was surprising his daughter at school.
That’s a great moment. Watching this young hero smile ear to ear, proud of his service and even prouder of his daughter. His wife had called us, asking if we’d like to be there for the moment.
Would we ever. After that initial contact, I started putting the bare bones of story together and planning how I would handle the moment in time.
I wondered just how this little girl would react to daddy coming home. And her reaction, in my mind, was perfect. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug that could be a world-record for length and love.
So today, I thank the Vogel family. Thanks for Dan’s service to this nation —it is much appreciated. Thank you for sharing that special moment with Kansan staff, and our readers.
An SUV being unloaded at the law enforcement center.
I’m often asked “why wasn’t this in your paper.” There is no one pat answer, but when it comes to a breaking news story, sometimes things just don’t work out as quickly as we all like.
Sometimes it’s pretty easy to get a breaking news story — I’m in the office, the scanner goes off and I grab my coat and head out. That’s the best way. But, that’s not always what happens.
Take Tuesday night for example. I was getting ready for bed, when I got a text.
“Big police chase downtown.”
I got dressed. I headed downtown — and the downtown portion of this was over. I texted back “what do you know.”
The response was not much, but the tipster saw three police cars following an SUV.
So, I think about my options — and I called the after hours number for dispatch. I find out that yes, there was a chase. But that’s all the info they can give.
Heading into the office, I listen to the scanner for a few minutes — hoping to hear something useful. It is silent.
My only option at this point is to drive by the law enforcement center. I see them unloading an SUV, placing it in the secure garage at the Sheriff’s office.
Pulling into the lot, I approach an officer with NPD and ask if there is someone who can speak with the media. He checks, and I’m told a press release will go out in the morning. I snap the above photo with my phone, knowing I probably am not getting a great image.
Fast forward — I go to the office early, about an hour early. That gives me a chance to get a head start and keep some free time open for talking to the PD. The PD office opens up at 8 a.m., our deadline for print is 9 a.m. At 8:05 I call and ask about the chase, and leave a voice mail for the officer I’m supposed to talk to.
Deadline comes, deadline goes, and I still don’t have the basics I need for a story in print. But I will keep calling, and keep following up, until I do have it. When I get it, I’ll break it online first and print later — that’s the nature of the beast now. We’re a news organization, not a newspaper. Not everything can, nor will, happen on our rigid print deadline.
So if you are looking at the paper, wondering about that chase last night, now you know why the story isn’t there. It’s not for a lack of trying — it’s just sometimes the information needed doesn’t come quite as fast as we would all like. That’s not an indictment of the PD, or anyone else. They work with us — it’s just the way things work sometimes.
I learned something new today, which is part of what I enjoy about the news business. I learn new things on a regular basis.
Today I learned a bit about the economics of Newspapers. Nothing earth shattering, and something that I knew in the back of my mind, but never really had asked questions about until now.
We charge .75 for the print edition — at least that is what the price is listed as on our front page each day.
But we don’t make that much per paper. Not even close. In the case of a subscriber, the amount they pay per day isn’t constant — but this month they are paying 46.1907 cents per edition (carrier delivered in Newton, taxes not included). We pay a carrier to deliver, which cuts into that daily reimbursement for us.
When you buy a paper from a retailer, and spend .75 to get it, the retailer takes a cut of that. Today I learned we get about .60 of those sales — not a bad percentage.
In the case of a news rack, we pay someone to fill that rack. We collect the .75, and unless there has been thievery get that full .75 — minus carrier fees — for each paper inside.
What’s the point? Why do those in the blogosphere need to know?
The only reason you’d need to know is you are like me — and like to learn some new things. Plus, this is an opportunity to remind the world that media companies are businesses. I would hope as discussions surface about supporting local business, that we’d be mentioned — as a business.
CF
This week as I was sitting at “Leadership Edge” when I was asked some questions about how to best submit a press release to us, and if I had any tips on writing an effective release.
I have tons of those tips. I’ve actually entertained the idea of creating a workshop for area organizations. Of course, everytime I catch an error in our paper I have those thoughts of “remove the log from your own eye first!”
All the tips I gave her during our two minutes together this week could be summed up in one statement: Know our style.
Writing for an English prof and writing for a newspaper are very different. Yes, the standard grammar rules apply. But there are some other quirks to consider.
One I encounter often is “time, date and place.” When writing about an event, say one happening next weekend for example, use that order. Always.
Game night did not occur at my house Saturday night at 7. It occurred at 7 p.m. Saturday at my house. The church service will not start Sunday at 10 a.m. at the church. It will start at 10 a.m. Sunday at the church.
Time, date and place. Always. Time, date and place. If there is an address included, use the following form:
The board of education will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the board meeting room of McKinley Administrative Center, 308 E. First.
Let me begin with a big "attaboy" and congrats to the Newton High School wrestling team.
The club won NHS' first league title in the sport since 1977, then capped that effort with an undefeated dual season with a win in Salina Friday night.
I grew up watching the Dan Gable-led Iowa Hawkeyes. They dominated everyone. I know good wrestling, and domination, as a result. NHS' undefeated record, strong finish at the TOC and league title is something to crow about.
But there is something else we need to address today. The upset fans and parents. They feel slighted by the newspaper. Instead of a big headline and photo from the Salina meet Saturday morning, they saw a headline and photo for Don Cameron who won his 500th career game as a hoops coach.
Ouch.
We were caught in the middle. Two big accomplishments — within hours of each other. That means difficult decisions for the Kansan.
With limited resources, we chose to keep our sports editor in Newton that night. Had yours truly had transportation to and from Salina, I would have been there. However, I did not have reliable transportation. We really only had one person who could cover sports that night.
However, I do wish to point out the Thursday edition of our newspaper included a front page story about the wrestling team winning the first title in 35 years, and the quest for a perfect dual season. The article previewed the Friday night dual meet. Let's be clear — the league title was already won.
The only question at that point was if it would be shared.
We rarely feature individual sports team on our front page, this was something I
believe warranted that treatment.
That does not change what we had Saturday. However, it did factor into our decision making process.
Friday we lacked the staff to be at both Newton and Salina. It really was that simple. This weekend we will be forced to make difficult decisions again — state swimming (Topeka) and regional wrestling (Salina) overlap.
These are decisions not taken lightly and contain a myriad of variables we must weigh. And these are decisions, no matter which way we go, that leads to someone not being happy.
This week an interesting e-mail popped up in my box — one from a Kansan online user.
The user was suggesting I turn commenting off for a story on our website, because after he had posted a comment or two someone had figured out who he was and called him at home.
He claims they yelled at him and were upset.
As harsh as what I am about to write sounds, I am about to write the truth.
Welcome to my world.
Years ago I dropped my home phone and am cell only. I don't circulate that number a whole lot. I got tired of that kind of thing as well. Every story seems to anger someone, for some reason. Sometimes it's not a story we write, but one we don't, that brings the wrath.
And there is plenty.
That written, there is a problem here. Figuring out who commentors are on thekansan.com usually takes a little bit of time, reading posts and figuring out who holds those issues dear to their heart. Sometimes, however, posters use their name or a derivative of it that leads to a lot less anonymity than they think they have. (Just for the record, if I post a comment on a story I use my name - chadfrey)
Acting on that knowledge, or the assumption of it, is really not appropriate outside of cyberspace. Take it from a guy who gets yelled at on the phone, in the grocery store and when out to eat.
I feel for the poster, I do. There isn't really anything we can do to stop that kind of behavior — though he could file a telephone harassment complaint with the police department.
So as you think about diving into the commentor pool, consider this. Putting your opinion out there will upset someone — no matter how benign you think it to be. That can come with consequence. And for those skimming and trying to think a way to get back at someone they don’t agree with, consider your actions also have consequences.
The rules we have are there to encourage people to play nice —so play nice. Leave in cyberspace — where it belongs.
We’ve launched a new feature on the web site — one that is pretty cool and I hope will grow. It’s called Local Loop
Here’s the little background. The past few years we have done what are called “reader callouts.” Every day on page 2A of the newspaper there’s a call. We ask readers to send photos or short stories within a theme — for example we asked for stories about ALCO when it closed. Right now we are asking for stories about the Starlite Skating Rink in print, and photos from the place on Local Loop.
To upload a photo and contribute, you need to be a registered user with thekansan.com. Registration is free, and we don’t spam you after you are registered. We also don’t sell your information.
Once approved by a moderator (a member of our staff) photos submitted to the loop should appear on the loop web site. I write should because there have been some hiccups as this gets off the ground. Be patient, in the end it gets worked out.
We can also download those photos here at the Kansan and publish them in the paper. We hope this will make it easier for readers to submit photos to us. If you have suggested call out for the loop, email me — I really do welcome suggestions.
Right now we are asking for pics of the Starlite, and from sporting events in Harvey County (Click on the sports category for that one). There will be more to come.
I can take some solace today in knowing two things.
First, I am not the only person on the planet who is tired of seeing double spaces after a period. Second, I’m not the only person on the planet who read a lengthy rant on the matter at Slate.com.
A friend of mine posted a link to this article on Slate: Space Invaders.
You don’t have to read the entire post there, unless you are like me and feel driven to do so. I am driven to learn everyday — the big reason I am in the business of journalism.
I can sum it all up pretty quickly. Farhad Manjoo writes for the Slate.com his opinion of double spaces. Manjoo writes they should never be used, and gives a history of where use of double spaces began.
In the land of Associated Press, double spaces are never used. We edit those out of everything we print — almost every press release, letter to editor and user submission. They are everywhere.
Now, if your English teacher says use them — then by all means appease your teacher and use them. If you are writing a press release, forgo the doubles. We’ll delete them anyway.
One my resolutions this year was pretty simple — to get into a new habit that is, what I think, is a good one.
I wanted to change the way I read news stories — both the ones I am editing for the paper and the ones I read in other papers. The change is this, I want to have my AP stylebook nearby, and look things up right away instead of guessing on the rule or trying to make a mental note to check it later.
It came in handy this week.
In a story that was published in our paper this week, the rough draft made reference to a chairperson. Instead of making a guess as to if that would pass muster in the stylebook, I looked it up. My gut was correct on this one, but it makes for a good tip for press release writers.
According to the AP stylebook we use here at the Kansan, chairperson should only be used if the organization uses the word as an official title. Otherwise, use chairman or chairwoman — and if used immediately prior to a name as a formal title it should be capitalized.
So, it would be board Chairwoman Jane Doe. It could also be Jane Doe, chairwoman of the board. Of course, should the title be formalized, we could also be dealing with board Chairperson Jane Doe or Jane Doe, chairperson.
