I might actually pay for state and local news online, and I think more people will come around to the idea in time, but probably not enough to sustain serious newspaper staffs.

I let my N&R subscription lapse after the Amendment 1 fiasco. They kept sending it for a while, then it stopped. I kind of miss it, and I'll probably re-subscribe at some point, although not via their frequent telemarketing calls.

Comments

[Mad Dog]

If you get a few moments, go to the N&O website and read some of the comments to the story about charging. Hilarious.

MD

[justcorbly]

In Days of Yore, you had one newspaper you could pay to be delivered to your doorstep. Or, two, if your town was big enough.

Now, it's different. Newspapers trying to sell online have competitors from across the country or the world. I stopped N&O delivery last year. Now, I pay the NYT for online access. Is access to the unqiue stuff the N&O publishes worth it? I dunno. I do know that ten years ago the equation would have been different. Today, I'm inclined to think I'd rather buy the NYT's coverage of the world than the N&O's coverage of the state. That's very probably an indicator of what seems important to me.

[Bill Yaner]

In days of yore, major cities had as many as 15 daily papers, each one representing a strongly opinionated segment of that society.

We say the Internet has corralled us into narrow affirmations of our beliefs with no threat from differing views. I don't think, though, that's new to our times.