35 replies to this topic

[mat]

The Globe and Mail business section will be launching a new web look, and integrating more with mobile media. There is a preview here.

[AnonAnnie2]

[Savannah]

I confess I don't browse the business section but hit "Social Studies" every morning as one of my a.m. reads with my cuppa tea.

[Bernard]

I tend to avoid most business sections of most papers because the reporting is rarely investigative and often can tend towards the sycophantic.

Case in point, Ian Thow. Where was the TC with respect to him before he fell? He was public enough here in town and offering returns that were too good to be true, but no one looked into it.

The only newspaper I read for business news is the Economist. They do significant in depth investigative reports each week in the paper. Their reporters also do not have a byline, so no ego involved and no ability to target any one journalist

[mat]

Globe and Mail have a new section "Eye on the Island"

Eye on the Island
B.C. company's salmon headed to orbit
Victoria-based columnist Tom Hawthorn begins a new weekly feature today, which focuses on off-beat aspects of life on Vancouver Island. 8:49 AM EDT

[yodsaker]

Globe and Mail have a new section "Eye on the Island"

"Look what those quaint islanders are up to now!" kind of stories?

[LJ]

Off-beat????

Don't we qualify for a real reporter instead of some fluff-piece reporter?

[Holden West]

Hawthorn doesn't do hard news but his features are first-rate.

No-one would dare call this fluff:

http://www.tomhawthorn.com/node/78

Mr. Wolsynuk, who lives in Delta, could barely contain his anger at the posthumous treatment of his son's reputation.

"**** happens," he said, choked. "It was a bad night, January 10th. It was pissing down rain. He went through a huge mud puddle and the truck shot out from under him. **** happens."

He cannot stand to hear another word about "friggin' text messaging."

On a late son's birthday, a bereaved father once again reached for a copy of an official document.

"I've got the damned coroner's report right here. Do you want me to read it to you?"

He paused after reading that Mike "struck his head with force on the frame of the truck."

The Globe still has its various local news reporters to cover current events.

[Caramia]

"Wow. What an idiot," wrote one online commenter. "Dead is good for idiots on the road," wrote another. Others let rip: "Dang funny," "What a jerk," "Nature thinning the herd," "One more out of the gene pool," "This cretin died because of his arrogance and ignorance."

I'd like to introduce the posters, cowards all of them in their anonymity, to the mother of the man whose death they mock.

Good story. I've noticed the same trend in some of the VV posters in the face of tragedy. And I've had the same thought - I'd like to introduce these people to the victim's mother.

[Mike K.]

The Globe is now behind a paywall. Every month the public gets a few articles for free, and then the paywall requires a $20/month subscription.

Before the paywall was implemented people asked if they would have to watch annoying commercials before viewing video content if they paid for a subscription. The Globe's publisher conveniently sidestepped the issue, so no, you get the privilege of paying to see content that forces you to first observe advertising.

On SkyscraperPage we offer our visitors an ad-free option on the forum. Peeps appreciate that and know they still continue to help with our server costs. It's a win win. Not sure why the mainstream media can't see it that way.

[VicHockeyFan]

I think Canadian newspapers think they can do this, if they move in lock-step, as media ownership is so concentrated due to dumb rules.

But people will just abandon the dailies for the local content of the weeklies - and who reads the international news/sports in the local paper? I can't remember the last time I opened a national or international article in the TC, and I scan every headline every day and open the articles that appeal to me, maybe 15 per day. They are invariably the local section, and local sports.

[Mike K.]

Agreed.

Back when I used to subscribe to the Globe the subscription fee covered the cost of delivery and printing, or so I was told by the sales agents. This was fine. But to pay $20/month for an electronic version of the paper is too steep.

[VicHockeyFan]

Back when I used to subscribe to the Globe the subscription fee covered the cost of delivery and printing, or so I was told by the sales agents.

That's true, the circulation costs alone eat up your subscription fee. The advertising pays for the rest of the staff and costs. But of course with digital, there is not so much advertising.

[Bingo]

Agreed.

Back when I used to subscribe to the Globe the subscription fee covered the cost of delivery and printing, or so I was told by the sales agents. This was fine. But to pay $20/month for an electronic version of the paper is too steep.

The newspapers are doomed and they know it, but they are trying to get the last kick at the cat by charging for online news. I am already paying for Optik TV and can find most of what I want there. If I hear a story that interests me further, I can find out more about it for free through a Google search.

[Mike K.]

The discrepancy between print publishing and online advertising shows just how much the print media industry has been overcharging for advertising. The Internet has leveled the field and the atrocious advertising rates newspapers had become accustomed to very quickly became unreasonable in the eyes of many advertisers.

On the Internet an advertiser can launch a campaign across 10 fairly popular websites that together reach 100,000 locals at a cost of $1,000/month for repeated exposure over 30 days. A single half-page ad on the TC reaching a fraction of those individuals on only one day with no repeat exposure, costs $1,000 to $2,000.

The newspapers are doomed and they know it, but they are trying to get the last kick at the cat by charging for online news.

That looks to be the case. But at a time when newspapers should be reigning in costs the Globe and Mail is building a new headquarters in Toronto. I wonder if they're biting more than they can chew.

[skeptic]

The Globe is now behind a paywall. Every month the public gets a few articles for free, and then the paywall requires a $20/month subscription.

Before the paywall was implemented people asked if they would have to watch annoying commercials before viewing video content if they paid for a subscription. The Globe's publisher conveniently sidestepped the issue, so no, you get the privilege of paying to see content that forces you to first observe advertising.

On SkyscraperPage we offer our visitors an ad-free option on the forum. Peeps appreciate that and know they still continue to help with our server costs. It's a win win. Not sure why the mainstream media can't see it that way.

Paste this into an Internet bookmark

javascript:(function()%7BC=document.cookie.split(%22;%20%22);for(d=%22.%22+location.host;d;d=(%22%22+d).substr(1).match(/%5C..*$/))for(sl=0;sl%3C2;++sl)for(p=%22/%22+location.pathname;p;p=p.substring(0,p.lastIndexOf(%22/%22)))for(i%20in%20C)if(c=C%5Bi%5D)%7Bdocument.cookie=c+%22;%20domain=%22+d.slice(sl)+%22;%20path=%22+p.slice(1)+%22/%22+%22;%20expires=%22+new%20Date((new%20Date).getTime()-1e11).toGMTString()%7D%7D)()

and invoke it when you get the nag from the Globe and Mail about subscribing to view more articles (reload the page after, or better yet invoke it when the site says "two more articles" etc.). It will reset your cookies (it works for the New York Times as well). As far as I'm concerned any paper that uses a paywall as easily defeated as this deserves what they get.

[Redd42]

Paste this into an Internet bookmark

javascript:(function()%7BC=document.cookie.split(%22;%20%22);for(d=%22.%22+location.host;d;d=(%22%22+d).substr(1).match(/%5C..*$/))for(sl=0;sl%3C2;++sl)for(p=%22/%22+location.pathname;p;p=p.substring(0,p.lastIndexOf(%22/%22)))for(i%20in%20C)if(c=C%5Bi%5D)%7Bdocument.cookie=c+%22;%20domain=%22+d.slice(sl)+%22;%20path=%22+p.slice(1)+%22/%22+%22;%20expires=%22+new%20Date((new%20Date).getTime()-1e11).toGMTString()%7D%7D)()

and invoke it when you get the nag from the Globe and Mail about subscribing to view more articles (reload the page after, or better yet invoke it when the site says "two more articles" etc.). It will reset your cookies (it works for the New York Times as well). As far as I'm concerned any paper that uses a paywall as easily defeated as this deserves what they get.

As far as I can tell, you don't even have to do that. You can read as many G&M articles you want if you reach them from Google. On the G&M home page, copy the title of the article into Google and then click on the the direct link to the article. No nagging from G&M about how many articles you have left. I'm pretty sure they mentioned this would be the case when they announced the paywall.

I guess this is going off topic, but I have noticed that the TC has STOPPED nagging about how many articles you have read. I look at least at a few a day on the TC web site and suddenly realized I was not getting the "You are reaching your limit" messages. Which were easily circumvented by clearing the browser data anyway...Is anyone else still getting limits to views on the TC web site? Or did they quietly give up that plan?

[skeptic]

As far as I can tell, you don't even have to do that. You can read as many G&M articles you want if you reach them from Google. On the G&M home page, copy the title of the article into Google and then click on the the direct link to the article. No nagging from G&M about how many articles you have left. I'm pretty sure they mentioned this would be the case when they announced the paywall.

Except accessing the articles from google is a PITA. I prefer to surf the site directly.

[VicHockeyFan]

I guess this is going off topic, but I have noticed that the TC has STOPPED nagging about how many articles you have read. I look at least at a few a day on the TC web site and suddenly realized I was not getting the "You are reaching your limit" messages. Which were easily circumvented by clearing the browser data anyway...Is anyone else still getting limits to views on the TC web site? Or did they quietly give up that plan?

I have not seen it for a while either. Don't forget the paywall on the TC site was Postmedia's idea, and may have died somewhere after the purchase by Glacier. Obviously Glacier is still using a Postmedia designed and integrated site under some type of license or arrangement.

[weirdie]

I guess this is going off topic, but I have noticed that the TC has STOPPED nagging about how many articles you have read. I look at least at a few a day on the TC web site and suddenly realized I was not getting the "You are reaching your limit" messages. Which were easily circumvented by clearing the browser data anyway...Is anyone else still getting limits to views on the TC web site? Or did they quietly give up that plan?

I never noticed it going away, because I don't experience it. Like someone mentioned in the TC thread, all you had to do was click the link to an article, then press 'stop' in your browser before the page fully loaded. Unlimited access.