Why do people think there’s any value in this flex? Independent media can’t exist without subscriber revenue - ThreadSky

www.bugbeardispatch.com • 14 days ago

Why do people think there’s any value in this flex?

Independent media can’t exist without subscriber revenue

Comments

evanhurst.bsky.social•14 days ago

Dramatic!

bigredfutbol.bsky.social•14 days ago

“I want to take this book home but the bookstore insists I give them money first.”

katzindc.bsky.social•14 days ago

I can’t believe I have to buy a ticket *every time* I go see a movie.

docum3nt.bsky.social•14 days ago

Not quite the right analogy. I'm happy paying for a ticket each time I go. But I don't want to pay an annual subscription when I only want to go occasionally.

katzindc.bsky.social•14 days ago

Good news - in my experience, most news sites do not require an annual subscription!

docum3nt.bsky.social•14 days ago

Indeed many of them don't, and I am grateful to them for that (eg if I comment further I'll explicitly cite them). But for micropayments we remain at the mercy of the banks, who need to be able to make their crust from the per-transaction vendor percentage.

katzindc.bsky.social•14 days ago

For what it’s worth, there’s a feed that’s just gift links - check it out if you get a chance.

christbot.bsky.social•14 days ago

I mean I think that would be a better point in a better economy (not talking about stocks). Sucks to be poor. Had to put discounted chicken gizzards back because they were too expensive, then went for tofu and the price is up on that now. I don’t think they were dissing you, just frustrated.

www.bugbeardispatch.com•14 days ago

Yeah, it's just my personal frustration, because I'm precarious too and indie media is my living (such as it is). But I hear you. The economy does suck for most of us

2much2soon.bsky.social•14 days ago

I completely agree with you. We should pay for the valuable service of the press. My only hesitation as a result of this coup is the value of getting as much news to the public as possible since it seems most Americans remain unaware/unconcerned about what's happening.

www.bugbeardispatch.com•14 days ago

There’s a lot of fash-enabling legacy media I fully support divesting from right now. I’m taking about genuinely indie media

funkypuppet.bsky.social•14 days ago

This is why Post News was such a great idea (micropayments for articles). I hope they come back.

ssommer642.bsky.social•14 days ago

I’ll pay for my expensive latte but not your hard work mentality.

katzindc.bsky.social•14 days ago

Priorities!

docum3nt.bsky.social•14 days ago

I can't afford a subscription to every newspaper. I have a full subscription to the one I rely on most, but they all URGENTLY need to implement a pay-as-you-view per-article micropayment mechanism so that people can follow the occasional link of interest without needing an annual subscription.

mackanory.bsky.social•14 days ago

Most paywalls I have to go around are owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Independent they are not.

www.bugbeardispatch.com•14 days ago

This post was a reply to an article from @theflytrapmedia.bsky.social

rewhan.bsky.social•14 days ago

A lot of people seem to be taking the exact wrong message from the aphorism "Real journalism costs money but the disinformation's free"

anneb-wabskysocial.bsky.social•14 days ago

while I agree independent media needs revenue... I can't pay to subscribe to every paper in the country. Sometimes I just want to read one article from a site (usually around a local event that they are covering best) but - paywall.

I don't have an answer. They need money. I don't have enough.

www.bugbeardispatch.com•14 days ago

I hear you. I'm far from made of money, and it frustrates me too. More a la carte options would probably be a good thing.

Fwiw: https://bsky.app/profile/www.bugbeardispatch.com/post/3li5v7x7rrs2r

oneofbillions24.bsky.social•14 days ago

But if you have to subscribe for every article you want to read, it'd cost a fortune. I understand the reason for it, and that this is how independent media survives, but there SO MUCH independent media, you can't subscribe to it all.

www.bugbeardispatch.com•14 days ago

We understand that. People have to make choices. But complaining that paywalls exist in indie media? That is a decidedly unhelpful choice

blairendearing.bsky.social•14 days ago

Whats so hard about picking 2-3 outlets (or more if you can afford) for a monthly contribution, reading whatever you need to and if you find you’re consistently reading a particular publication, making them one of the ones you fund.

(And then shutting up about paywalls).

eikepierstorff.bsky.social•14 days ago

I guess people complain mostly when somebody "shares" links that are not actually shared because of the paywall. Just adding "paywalled" to the link so nobody has to click to find out would probably cut down on the complaints a lot (maybe somebody can build a browser extension for that?).

blairendearing.bsky.social•14 days ago

There’s multiple ways around paywalls. If someone hasn’t figured that out yet, maybe they best leave social media and work on themselves instead of complaining about journalists trying to get paid for their work 🤷🏻‍♂️

littlefonzie920.bsky.social•14 days ago

I wonder if we could create an independent media collective. A singular source where independent media could go where subscribers could pay one fee to access it all, then the revenue could be split amongst all.

www.bugbeardispatch.com•14 days ago

We've already got collectives - The Flytrap, Defector, Flaming Hydra, and more. But I think you mean something that would offer all those things, sharing revenue with each participating publication?

I know we at The Flytrap are open to talks about that sort of thing

rewhan.bsky.social•14 days ago

I think that's (part of) why aggregators like Ground News are starting to crop up.

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