Hey, there! Log in / Register
Local newspaper chain ends online firewall; puts content online for free
By adamg on Tue, 01/19/2016 - 6:01pm
Bulletin Newspapers of Hyde Park, which publishes newspapers from Norwood into Boston, is ending its longstanding policy of only making PDFs of its issues available to subscribers. Starting today, the chain is posting stories on its Web site.
People who did subscribe for the PDFs will get pro-rated refunds.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Who wants to read that rag anyway?
Much less pay to read it! The last time I looked at the paper it had no stories of local interest, and a bunch of real estate ads.
You must
be thinking of another paper. The bulletin has a high percentage of content. If you dont live in one of the neighborhoods it covers you wouldnt want to read it as it is hyper local. Its pretty well liked in the area as far as I can tell.
I do
In fact, my only gripe is that they make too few print copies. I look for it at Roche Brothers and several retailers at the Square, yet a lot of weeks I am left disappointed (and uninformed). I'd pay for a print subscription to this free "rag."
I could never figure out why
there was a fee to read it online - but you could pick it up for free.
I will still likely pick up a hard copy, but like the idea of being able to share the electronic stories on FB or Twitter.
Probably just a way to make a
Probably just a way to make a tiny amount of money off the few people who want to read (or save) an article on their computer.
More about preserving print ad revenues, I think
They used to have their articles online, but went to paid PDFs because they worried whether that would draw people away from the print edition, where the bulk of their ad revenue was coming from.
Preferred
Well, I enjoy the local stories myself but in recent times (year or more) it was starting to be hard to find on the street. The only place I was able to find it was in the lobby of the Cooperative Bank or at Roches market. In years past it was in many local stores.
When it was starting to get scarce on the street I often turned to the on-line version. It was a very simple format. Each page of the edition was a PDF file where you could zoom in or reduce as necessary.
I'm glad to see it is returning online free.
Seems to me that proper marketing might be able to sell to its advertisers that along with the print version they were getting additional bang for the buck via the on-line medium.
courant
I wish the Boston Courant would go online. I can read the Beacon Hill Times online, why not the Courant?
Publisher basically says: Why bother?
This interview is a little old (the paper now does have a Twitter feed and it occasionally tweets out JPGs of print articles), but I don't think Jacobs' feelings about online have changed much. From his perspective, it also makes sense because he's in one of the richest markets in the country and people are still knocking at his door to give him lots of money for real-estate ads.
I thought they went out of business
I always picked this up at Rochies in WR but I haven't seen it there in months. Glad they are still in business. I gave up on the WR Transcript but would consider paying something for the Bulletin.