A Sign of the Times: The Miami Herald Asking for Donations

The dire straights the US newspaper industry is going through is starting to take Dickensian undertones, especially in this upcoming holiday season.


The Miami Herald Building in downtown Miami

The Miami Herald, one of the most emblematic American dailies, has started asking users of its website for voluntary donations with the following plea: "Support ongoing news coverage on Miamiherald.com."

The Herald's financial viability has been under question for many months. This year the paper has eliminated 175 jobs and is expected to cut 24 more this holiday season.

NBC Miami:

With cutbacks, layoffs and weak revenues, the Herald is looking for money from its online content any way it can get it.

(...)

Just a few months ago, the Herald required online users to register to view stories online, and a straight fee for browsing the Herald's stories online may be around the corner.

"We're trying something new, we're putting it out there to see if it works, to see what the response is," said Elissa Vanaver, Vice President/Assistant to the Publisher at the Herald. She said there are currently no plans to start charging for content.

The New York Times tried that with very little success and the Rupert Murdoch publishing empire has announced that it will start charging users for access to its websites.

A once proud industry does not seem to find the key to coming out of the worst crisis in its history.

Comments

[shopalu]

I think it is so sad that the newspapers in our country are facing such hard economic times as well as everyone else. We have relied on them and they have been such a huge part of our culture for so long. It is difficult to imagine not having them around. They have to find a way to reinvent themselves somehow in order to compete with the way the world gets their news is changing.