The man who wiped the smile off his own face
If there’s one man who’s having a tough morning in the office, it’s Nathaniel Bane, assistant editor of paid content for the Herald Sun in Melbourne.
Poor Nathaniel is single handedly running a breaking news blog around the title’s move to a paywall which went live today. And fair to say, he’s taking a kicking. Not just because the readers are less than delighted at being asked to pay for something they’ve got used to getting for free.
But also, because readers claimed he was smiling too much in his byline picture. So much so that he bowed to online pressure and changed it to a glummer picture.
A sample of the early comments:
Sorry, I am taking a digital pass on the Herald Sun
News Ltd has made plenty of mileage out of bashing politicians who supposedly don’t understand the pressures that everyday people facing with the “rising cost of living”. Eg: the carbon tax. reducing welfare entitlements for people earning over $150K, medicare rebate, petrol prices, etc. In fact, the News Ltd papers have actively encouraged people to be angry every time the cost of something goes up. I guess it’s time for the Hun to reap what it has sown ..
It’s kinda amusing that people complain about the cost of something they used to pay for daily, then got free, and now are being asked to pay for again – but a lot less than they would have in a print version.
Free online news cannot exist forever but there is going to be some pain in the transition!
Nathaniel good on you you’re a champ
the comments stream does however confirm that many Hun readers are morons
It’s a bit weird that people can’t have an opinion against what the Sun is doing without making personal cracks to the poor guy whose job it is to flog it. It’s not like he’s the one that has made the business decision. Screw the paper, I won’t bother now, it’s not the price it’s the damn annoying login. I had a free digital pass for The Australian and it was just a nuisance, even while free.
As for Nathaniel, good for you, you sound like a pretty decent bloke.
The Herald Sun online carries – say – 500 stories a day, seven days a week.
That means access to each story costs the online reader less than .0008c.
Journalism is expensive. Online access is not.
I might consider paying if I could be guaranteed an ad free experience.
It’s hard to imagine the paper can’t turn a profit from advertising revenue – so why are readers now forced to pay? Especially in a world where there’s an abundance of free news elsewhere.
I will digital pass up the Herald Sun hun!