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Shard Nov 11th 2016 9:13 pm

Supporting The Guardian
 
There are a few 'Grauniads' on here...anybody supporting it? They seem to be stepping up their "voluntary support" campaign in the efforts to avoid a paywall. I'm not, so far, although I do feel a bit or moral responsibility as I do use the site. Once you start paying, you start thinking whether there's other content you might purchase instead. It's the same with some authors that are publishing or podcasting online, who are encouraging voluntary payments. At the moment I think my only subscriptions are Spotify and Netflix, but that's slightly different.

dbd33 Nov 11th 2016 11:11 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 12102688)
There are a few 'Grauniads' on here...anybody supporting it? They seem to be stepping up their "voluntary support" campaign in the efforts to avoid a paywall. I'm not, so far, although I do feel a bit or moral responsibility as I do use the site. Once you start paying, you start thinking whether there's other content you might purchase instead. It's the same with some authors that are publishing or podcasting online, who are encouraging voluntary payments. At the moment I think my only subscriptions are Spotify and Netflix, but that's slightly different.

Guardinista, innit? I don't support the Guardian despite being a long term reader and, indeed, having downloaded a reasonably long term partner from their talkboard. I have met both Julie Burchill and Norman Shrapnel through the Gruan. I feel slightly guilty about not paying as I have a subscription to both the New Yorker and the NYT and would have had one to the Atlantic had that box not disappeared at the moment of transactional climax. Still, there's something cloying worthy about their manner of asking, I can't do it.

Shard Nov 11th 2016 11:17 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 12102760)
Guardinista, innit? I don't support the Guardian despite being a long term reader and, indeed, having downloaded a reasonably long term partner from their talkboard. I have met both Julie Burchill and Norman Shrapnel through the Gruan. I feel slightly guilty about not paying as I have a subscription to both the New Yorker and the NYT and would have had one to the Atlantic had that box not disappeared at the moment of transactional climax. Still, there's something cloying worthy about their manner of asking, I can't do it.

Ah yes, Guardinsita, better term. I don't really like the term Grauniad but since it's a made up word I thought I would use. Well done on the downloading. Plenty of good content out there. I expect in due course it will be bundled in the way cable TV channels are.

JamesM Nov 11th 2016 11:30 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 
I hadn't paid much attention to the NYT but have used it a lot in the last two weeks. I'm very very impressed.

For me the Guardian has got a lot worse in the last 6 months and running more click bait headlines and focusing on lengthy commenting.

We're going to hit a tipping point where news content does need to be paid to be picked up but when we do it's highly likely I'll go where I feel the insightful Premier League coverage is.

Over the years I have carried some Economist subscriptions on and off as well.

BristolUK Nov 11th 2016 11:38 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 12102688)
There are a few 'Grauniads' on here...anybody supporting it? They seem to be stepping up their "voluntary support" campaign in the efforts to avoid a paywall.

Judging by their appeals this week, they seem to have stepped up because Trump won the election. :nod:


Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 12102760)
...I have met Julie Burchill...

We were at the same school...though I never knew her.

I was always willing to subscribe if it came to it. I've been a reader since the late 70s. It's my home page.

But there are certain things I dislike about it and they seem to be increasing. It's still the best news site I know for what I want to read and do.

But if they just announced paying was needed I would. I would feel guilty about not being a supporter but they seem so hellbent on the way it's run seemingly since the new ed took over, as well as all their lovely little IT features that actually worsen the experience, I don't. :(

Souvy Nov 11th 2016 11:47 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 
I remember the days when one would buy a newspaper.

Why should they now be free?

JamesM Nov 11th 2016 11:51 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by Souvy (Post 12102780)
I remember the days when one would buy a newspaper.

Why should they now be free?

That was to cover distribution costs wasn't it?

The actual content was paid for by the advertising.

The problem now is only a handful of companies can monetise content effectively and everyone else struggles.

Souvy Nov 12th 2016 12:06 am

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by JamesM (Post 12102781)
That was to cover distribution costs wasn't it?

The actual content was paid for by the advertising.

The problem now is only a handful of companies can monetise content effectively and everyone else struggles.

You are exactly right.

dbd33 Nov 12th 2016 1:28 am

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by Souvy (Post 12102780)
I remember the days when one would buy a newspaper.

Why should they now be free?

I had a subscription to the Gruaniad Weekly for years, decades perhaps. At the time it was about the only way to get news from abroad in Toronto. Now as JamesM says, the online version is quite tabloid in format and contains reams of tightly edited comments; to my mind there's no point in having comments if there's no room for a dissenting view. (I understand why the original talkboard was shut down but the spinelessness of the decision rather tempered my enthusiasm for things Gruany).

Some of the columnists, Gary Younge, Owen EvenYounger seem to churn out the same column every week. So, of course, does Polly Toynbee but I could ignore one column, half the paper is more difficult. Sadly, while bemoaning the tabloid format and decline in proper news coverage, I only consistently read Marina Hyde and Hadley Freeman.

BristolUK Nov 12th 2016 2:40 am

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 12102833)
...reams of tightly edited comments; to my mind there's no point in having comments if there's no room for a dissenting view...

Oh there's tons of room for dissent but the moderation/deletion practices leave an awful lot to be desired.

Point out that the writer of a column has used out of date stats or incomplete ones and the full stats or more recent ones contradict what they're saying and those comments don't stay up for long.

Double standards abound in these policies too. :(

scrubbedexpat091 Nov 12th 2016 3:38 am

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 
I never paid for newspapers, and I wont pay for any news online. I just use free sources and skip those that charge.

BristolUK Nov 12th 2016 1:16 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by Jsmth321 (Post 12102862)
I never paid for newspapers, and I wont pay for any news online. I just use free sources and skip those that charge.

I'm a firm believer in not paying if I don't have to - or paying less when I needn't pay more.

But sometimes it's worth paying/paying more.

The Guardian is my go to site for having the news I want and is much less likely to slant it's coverage to suit it's interests or owners because it's run by a trust.

That doesn't mean it doesn't have an agenda and doesn't slant its coverage. But it doesn't do outright lies and distortions like most of the others.

There's nothing that comes close and if it becomes compulsory to pay, then I'll pay.

For local stuff I subscribe to the Moncton newspaper. I still can't get over it being cheaper to have it delivered rather than having to go out in 30 below temperatures, icy underfoot, blizzards, downpours, extreme humidity and all the rest of it. :thumbsup:

BristolUK Nov 12th 2016 2:37 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 12102688)
...They seem to be stepping up their "voluntary support" campaign...

"For less than the price of a cup of coffee a week you can support for a month for £5..."

Just how many places are there that charge that much?

I see coffee at the Ritz, London is £7 but £2 to £3 looks more the norm from googling for London.

Starbucks seems to be in the same range but £3 to £4 for something horrible special.

So where does 'the guardian' buy their coffees? :ohmy:

Shard Nov 12th 2016 3:01 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 
Yes 2 - 3 is the range. Maybe 3.50.

Novocastrian Nov 12th 2016 3:14 pm

Re: Supporting The Guardian
 

Originally Posted by BristolUK (Post 12103077)
"For less than the price of a cup of coffee a week you can support for a month for £5..."

I never buy cups of coffee. I make my own.

That aside, the Graun is my go-to news site as well (but not the only one). Like, but also unlike dbd33, I had a subscription to the Weekly edition from 1977 until about 2012. Unlike dbd33 because my father-in-law bought it for us every year for Christmas. :thumbup:

I would probably pay if they put up a paywall, but until then I'm not volunteering.


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