'Wired' Drops Paywalls for Articles Based on Public Records Requests, Urges Other Sites to Follow (freedom.press)
- Reference: 0176794821
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/23/0324221/wired-drops-paywalls-for-articles-based-on-public-records-requests-urges-other-sites-to-follow
- Source link: https://freedom.press/issues/wired-is-dropping-paywalls-for-foia-based-reporting-others-should-follow/
> They're called public records for a reason, after all. And access to public documents is more important than ever at this moment, with government websites and records disappearing... [S]ome may argue that, from a business standpoint, [2]not charging for stories primarily relying on public records automatically means fewer subscriptions and therefore less revenue. We disagree.
>
> Sure, the FOIA process is time- and labor-intensive. Reporters face stonewalling, baseless denials, lengthy appeals processes, and countless other obstacles and delays. Investigative reports based on public records are among the most expensive stories to produce and share with the public... But while some readers might not subscribe to outlets that give away some of their best journalism for free, it's just as possible that readers will recognize this sacrifice and reward these outlets with more traffic and subscriptions in the long run...
>
> We hope others will follow Wired 's lead (and shoutout to outlets like 404 Media that also make their FOIA-based reporting available for free). We also hope those who stand to benefit from these outlets' leadership (that's you, reader) will do their part and [3]subscribe if you can afford it. They're not asking for an arm and a leg... The Fourth Estate needs to step up and invest in serving the public during these unprecedented times. And the public needs to return the favor and support quality journalism, so that hopefully one day we can do away with those annoying paywalls altogether.
[1] https://freedom.press/issues/wired-is-dropping-paywalls-for-foia-based-reporting-others-should-follow/
[2] https://freedom.press/issues/journalists-post-public-records-without-paywalls/
[3] https://www.wired.com/v2/offers/wira01013?source=Site_0_EDT_WIR_SUPERFAN_0_PressFreedom__ZZ
There is no data (Score:2)
That can convince me paywalls actually work in providing more revenue compared to sites who do not use them.
Re: There is no data (Score:3)
That may be true but the alternative is advertising which is obviously a terrible way to fund a site. It's bad UX and privacy for users and influences decisions toward corporate interests.
Paying for news is now a critical component of democracy.
Re: There is no data (Score:2)
> Paying for news is now a critical component of democracy.
Not really a new thing - they charged for copies of the Federalist Papers. Ironically, they did not sell well.
what grinds my gears (Score:4)
is when a news website posts and links an article on BlueSky and when i open their link they posted and i am hit with popups to buy a subscription and/or disabls my adblocker, i immediately close the browser and block them on BlueSky so i never have to see their posts anymore
ETHICS IN JOURNALISM ended with PAYWALLS (Score:3, Informative)
Before I compliment Wired, I'm taking this opportunity to point out the "news" sites have become a travesty. No editors. No copy reviewers. Paywalls. Pop-up ads. No "show your work" or "cite your sources". ETHICS IN JOURNALISM MUST COME BACK. And with that, the compliment:
Good on Wired for making this earth-shattering move.
But yet it's as if paywalls was a "natural thing" that just had to be, but they are gracious to remove it. No. They CHOSE to implement Paywalls and they CHOSE how many ads pop up and they CHOSE not to show their work. But now they're trying to fix ... that thing... they broke... for another buck.
Paywalls and popup ads are what makes news websites a PITA, but good on Wired for relenting on SOME but not ALL of their content. I support SOME sites, and here's that pitch:
Mike Masnick and Team from Techdirt.com have been saying for YEARS "Why is it these big news sites can report on a lawsuit, and they clearly have read the [public] filing... but can't be bothered to post it so we -- the readers -- can see it too?"
I call upon every source of information, whether news or "entertainment" (Yeah, Fox, that's you) to not hide their content behind a dumpy paywall, not blizzard our eyes with ads, and SHOW US YOUR SOURVE MATERIAL when it's public. Like lawsuits.
Not everyone can afford PACER. RECAP is free. The extra 5-10 seconds to have your browser plugin share from A to B and then post that link is meaningful to us the readers.
SHOW JOURNALISTIC ETHICS. STOP HIDING BEHIND A PAYWALL OR ADWALL. POST SOURCE DOCUMENTS.
If you think this is a rant, think back to elementary school ("show your work") or high school ("cite your sources") or college ("make your citation better"). ETHICS IN JOURNALISM seemed to have ended in the PAYWALL/ADWALL days. That's probably when editors were "let go" and spellcheckers ("AI") became authors' reviewers.
HEY /. readers. Send a message to the Mod-of-the-day. Just post below if you agree or disagree. Odds are 100% you're in one category or the other. Let the mods know if you'd RATHER HAVE PAYWALLS (that thousands of people are working around daily) or AD BLIZZARDS (same) or NO SOURCE MATERIAL... or whether you want it all... and... like The Guardian, or TOI, and others... offer to "pay what you can to support ethical journalism."
Your vote counts.
E
Re: (Score:2)
I honestly can't tell if you're ranting about paywalls or sourcing here. The answer is, of course, both. But the two arguments keep getting mixed up. And then you throw in ad "blizzards" as well. What is it you want sites to do in order to make money, if not paywalls or lots of advertising?
ETHICS IN JOURNALISM ended with unpaid journalism (Score:2)
> Before I compliment Wired, I'm taking this opportunity to point out the "news" sites have become a travesty. No editors. No copy reviewers. Paywalls. Pop-up ads. No "show your work" or "cite your sources". ETHICS IN JOURNALISM MUST COME BACK.
People don't want to pay for news any more. If they expect news to be free, they should expect no editors, no copy reviewers, no fact checking, and unpaid reporters.
You get what you pay for.
What strikes me as humorous... (Score:2)
...is the single sentence that both acknowledges that Wired is following 404 Media's lead and also claims that them themselves are the ones starting the trend.
Based on public records (Score:2)
> 'Wired' Drops Paywalls for Articles Based on Public Records Requests, ...
While those records still exist, and haven't been purged, anyway ... (sigh)
Or (Score:4, Interesting)
You can just get this --
[1]https://github.com/bpc-clone/b... [github.com]
[1] https://github.com/bpc-clone/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean
Re: (Score:2)
Read the instructions.
Re: (Score:2)
Updated 33 minutes ago...
"Extension is no longer hosted on GitHub due to DMCA takedown notice (check X or Google)."
"PS update channel isn't affected though."