Pittsburgh: Post Gazette & PG+, you’re doing it wrong!

Pittsburgh: Post Gazette & PG+, you’re doing it wrong!

Posted by Andy Quayle
September 3, 2009

I’ve left this one for a while. Partly because I’ve been on pain killing drugs (Wisdom teeth extraction) and partly so I can cool down after learning about it.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette launched a paid service this week called “PG+”. For $36 per year or $3.99 per month you can become a PG+ member and get special access to blogs, special events, special experiences, and more.

While the PG+ Subscription isn’t overwhelmingly pricey I’m kind of irked about it all.

As a part of the subscription you get access to special blogs, written by Post Gazette writers, you can interact with them personally, sound off and join the conversation.

Isn’t this what a newspaper, especially a local one should be doing anyway? Shouldn’t you be reaching out to your audience and interacting with them?

What makes the PG ‘Bloggers’ so special that you can hide them and their Pittsburgh Buzz Content behind a subscription.

There are hundreds of quality bloggers in Pittsburgh. I dare say that I’d rather read them over the Pittsburgh Post Gazette writers. The local bloggers do have their fingers on the Pittsburgh Pulse because they’re actually out there doing the stuff.  They’re attending meetings, town halls, debates, events and more. They’re not sitting in their office in Downtown Pittsburgh with their select press passes.

I’ll be the first to tell you that there is, and always be a place for newspaper journalism. But bloggers are bloggers and should be accessible anyway.

Do you not add the writer email address and phone number to the end of every article? can we not interact with the journalists, call them, email them, leave comments?

I guess what I’m trying to say is. Don’t try to monetize your platform by hiding something that should be public anyway. Don’t charge for something that you should be doing/have been doing anyway.  Certainly don’t charge for something that hundreds of others are doing in your city, for free, at possibly a better quality already.

I’d pay for a special PG+ Pass to get me exclusive coupons and event notifications alone. I wouldn’t mind that. But I’m not going to pay for something a newspaper should be giving me when I buy it anyway.

I know a few people feel this way too. I’ve had feedbackand others have echoed the sentiment.

It wasn’t long ago that a group of Pittsburgh Social Media Gurus went to the Post Gazette offices (at no cost) and gave them a Twitter Tutorial, explaining how it can help them reach and broaden their customer base.

What are your thoughts? do you think newspaper reporter blogs should be subscription based? Does this exclude a reader base? Does it cry “we need money!”?

See also:

Newspapers are dying – Metroblogging Pittsburgh

Post Gazette Launch Announcement

2 Political Junkies

Pittsblog

That’s Church

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Andy was born in the Isle of Man and currently lives in Pittsburgh. Known globally as a willing source for tech news and views, Andy takes great pride in consultation and education. Should his schedule permit, Andy is available to help you with your SEO and Web Analytics needs.

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  • You know... I hadn't really considered this to be a problem until you mentioned the oportunity for special coupons. I agree that there are at least 20 bloggers who are NOT writing for the PG+ that I would (and do) rather read than folks being forced to transition to a writing style they are unfamiliar with. That you are a journalist does not mean that you are a Blogger (or a good one at that), and vice versa. That they are asking me/us to pay for content that is opinion based, and free among those who already traffic in the creation and dissemination of such content, is actually a bit insulting. To top it off, they offer coupons. Coupons, my friends. You are paying $36 a year to get coupons that you will likely never use (do those savings even equate to the $36 fee?).

    The crux of social media is the interaction between the audience and the creator. The PG+ model implies that there is some worthwhile division between the two, and that someone has decided that those who exist to be interacted with behind the closed gates of Subscription fees are somehow more worthy, correct, or privelidged than those who create out among the masses anyway.

    I am not opposed to subscriptions for content -- The Economist has been using this model for years, and quite effectively, I might add. I have a problem with the approach and content they put behind that high wall. Someone there just doesn't understand their audience, the social media audience, and (apparently) why their model is going to continue struggling for life.

    Put exclusive articles behind the wall. Put interview material behind the wall. Put extensive research on issues and controversies behind the wall... but don't close the gate to try and put a division between the individuals in a community where interaction and contribution is key. If you want community interaction a community has to develop a hierarchy on its own, not one based on who gets to comment because of a PayPal account.

    Blogs are opinion, and unfortunately, I'll make my own decisions about whose content I value enough to spend money on... and I'll buy the writer a coffee or a drink in person.
  • Nice post, and I agree completely. I'd also like to point out that I would be a subscriber of the Post Gazette if every time I read it, there weren't typos and grammar errors on the front page, in headlines, not to mention in the rest of the content. And the local stories aren't particularly well-written.

    I might be more inclined to purchase the blog access if I thought the content would be interesting and edited for typos and grammar errors.
  • Alas, I think they have it backwards.

    While it's likely that the PG+'s paid blogs will find a close-knit commenting community -- since everyone who can access them will have paid to do so (and that number is smaller than those who'll read the news for free) -- a cozy community won't be fiscally rewarding enough keep a potentially pricey secondary offering like this afloat. Plus, if anything the bloggers say is of actual value, their readers will find a way to redistribute that content online for free on their own blogs, thus eroding the walled garden.

    A more cost-effective (and technologically reasonable) approach might be to cease distribution of the physical daily newspaper, keep the ad-supported web version free, and bundle the analysis and insight of their expert journalists into a weekly newspaper that charges like a magazine. That way the "prime" content would still be paid for, the people who cling to the physical distribution method would have something to hold, and the rest of us could retransmit their wisodm electronically.

    I do give the PG credit for experimenting with new revenue streams. I'm just not sure that this particular approach will be effective or relevant. We shall see.
  • Jami's point is well take In Michigan Where I live the reporters can't even Rag A line or create a decent Deck-Content is Murder Kidnapping and the Adventures of Pick Pocket Politicians-I am 73 years old and was raised on the Old Media-but have not subscribed to a news paper in 5 years-Once in a when I read one in a coffee shop if some one leaves it on a table-About twice a year I treat myself and buy the Atlantic Monthly-I can Read Andy Chris Brogan Steve Rubel Shel Israel and more at No Charge why would I buy a Blog from an untested Source !
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