Hail to the thief. Long live the chain. I'm comfortably numb.

In conjunction this week with numerous other CNHI chain newspapers, the News and Tribune erected an on-line metered paywall. You'll even have to pay to read the explanation of why you have to pay, except that I already reprinted it.

To summarize conclusions gleaned from recent Twitter exchanges, the cost for electronic access is $10 per month, compared with $15 to receive newsprint according to the US Postal Service's delivery schedule. The "Front Page" it ain't.

Finally the most recent temporary publisher Bill "Sales, Not Content" Hanson has conceded that your monthly tithe will not buy a reprieve from the intrusive roll-over videos and pop-up/over/under, buzzing-gnat-like advertisements that justifiably render the newspaper's on-line interface a local laughingstock. For this reason, I'm in no mood to subscribe. I'm okay with the price, just not paying it to be insulted by a chain.

Last night at Twitter, Jeffersonville-based managing editor Shea Van Hoy reinforced Hanson's earlier insistence that working together, they produce an "excellent community newspaper," by cautioning me not to peek around the paywall.

I would ask, Roger, that you not post entire N&T articles to your blog, as you did w/council story. I'm fine if you want to post a link, as you have in the past. Otherwise, it's theft.

In short:

Roger, there'll be none of that. I've no intention during this life or any other to follow of once acknowledging that time in 2011 when I screwed you over about your column after you did me a favor, but if you would, please resume directing traffic toward our paywalled website, as NAC has done for nine years running with scant thanks from us -- but anything else is mere thievery, to be quelled by sending the Community Newspaper Gendarmes to your back door ... of course, as soon as we fly them up on coach from Alabama, to which a sizeable portion of the $120 yearly cost will be going to Dixiecrat pensioners, anyway, even as we continue to insist that somehow, in some convoluted and wholly imaginary way with fingers crossed behind our backs, we're not a chain.

Shrug. Yawn. Somewhere, a dog fertilizes a bush.

This topic effectively has jumped the shark, along with Doug England's future in politics and the notion that this city by sanity's edge actually possesses a downtown economic development strategy. With the periodic exception of lifers past the point of mobility, chain outlets typically are staffed by folks eventually moving elsewhere, to other chains, and so it will be with this one, too. Maybe the next batch will be better. Maybe not. Whatever. In the final analysis, it just isn't worth giving a tinker's damn one way or another.

As we await Trib Daniel’s inevitable rejoinders -- touchingly, he is the newspaper's Jim Fowler, wrestling diabetic hippos in the oozing swamp as his upper management emulates Marlon Perkins, sipping chilled daiquiris in the hovering executive copter -- permit me to note that I’m happy to comply with Van Hoy's warning.

Henceforth, I’ll offer only rough paraphrasings of whatever I read at the 'Bune and ‘Bamagator ... however I manage to read it, and as seldom as possible. After all, I'm far less a thief than a spy in the house of bile.

Cheers.

Rubber meets road as News and Tribune lowers a metered paywall on the populace.

In the unabridged cut 'n' paste below, the editor of the News and Tribune explains the decision to erect a pay wall, to meter your peeping inside, and to shift comments to Facebook -- where people with real names typically make none of the snide and nasty comments ... er, never mind.

To be honest, I've always maintained that I'd pay for on-line content provided two conditions were met.

First, that the price be lower than antiquated dead tree service, and second, that the publisher-Hanson-ordained video-arcade-style ads go the fug away.

C'mon, it's 2013; one shouldn't be compelled to worry where the mouse's eye roams, lest another of the 'Bama-pension-system-inspired childlike web annoyances be activated. It's just a flip of the switch, right?

So if I pay, jiggle the toggle and silence the dentist.

It appears the price indeed will be lower, and the editor has promised (they're periodically honored, except in 2011) to get back with us with regard to the Hansons, so I suppose we'll see what happens next. My guess is that Bluegill votes against using any blog revenue to pay for the 'Bune's Clark County-centric content, which is quite wise, considering the blog has no revenue. It's a labor of bile, this ... powered by good old-fashioned alcohol, tins of kippers and the occasional nap.

Ladies and gents, give it up for Shea Van Hoy ... but why not the publisher Hanson? I mean, it's proverbial.

---

October 16, 2013

VAN HOY: Website changes begin today; Full access starts; News and Tribune shifting to Facebook platform for web comments

By SHEA VAN HOY

shea.vanhoy@newsandtribune.com

— I had a Facebook “discussion” recently with a few people about the past, present and future of journalism.

Opinions differed on the state of journalism, but I think all agreed that the way news is delivered has changed drastically over the past 15 years.

At my first newspaper job in Kokomo in 1998, our website had just started, and we didn’t really think about writing content specifically for the website, and certainly not for smart phones or tablets, which were years away from becoming a primary means for people to consume news.

Most reporters did not take photos, none of ours shot video and the real debate in the newsroom was when to post an article to the website, as to not “scoop ourselves.”

Soon after I started in Kokomo, the newspaper experimented with charging a fee for viewing online content. It didn’t last long, and the newspaper’s site went back to a totally free platform.

Not sticking with the paid-site plan was a mistake, in my opinion, and the belief that newspapers should charge for online access has only grown on me. It costs money to report, produce and post stories, photos, video and columns to the website. The Internet has never really been “free,” and it’s becoming a more expensive venture with the way consumers want news delivered.

Our reporters, photographers, editors and designers work hard every day to deliver content that readers can’t get anywhere else — in the print edition and on our web and mobile sites.

With that in mind, starting today visitors to newsandtribune.com will see a notice informing them of how many articles they have remaining for free before they will need to pay for what we’re calling Total Access.

Subscribers to the print edition will see their rates rise slightly, but they also will get full access to digital content. We must increase our rates to pay for the technology required for us to stay relevant in an ever-changing media world.

Those subscribers will get the print product and online access. They will also have access to an e-subscription, which will look just like the printed product in PDF form. It’s perfect for keeping up with news happening at home in Southern Indiana while you’re away.

Those who have been reading the paper online and don’t pay for any subscription will now need to either subscribe to Total Access, or choose a digital-only option for a couple of dollars less per month.

This is the way of the world — media outlets around the globe are charging for online or mobile access to the valuable content they produce. We hope you’ll continue to find value in the community-based journalism the News and Tribune news organization produces every day.

Those with questions about Total Access or a digital subscription should call our circulation department at 812-206-2107 or 206-2108.

WEB COMMENTS SHIFT TO FACEBOOK

One of the highlights — and lowlights — of my day as an editor is reading and approving reader comments on our articles and columns at newsandtribune.com.

To clarify, it’s really approving most of them and deleting a few others.

Every so often, a reader takes offense to a comment posted on our website. Believe me, some of the ones we don’t approve would shock you. A handful of the comments are just sickening and make me wonder what would possess someone to take the time to make such heartless posts.

There have been comments making fun of an interview subject’s appearance; there have been taunts aimed at high school athletes; there have been threats; and there have even been very negative comments on a person’s obituary listing online.

That’s about as low as it gets.

As many people know, the process can be anonymous if the reader chooses to use a fake name or email address — or no name at all. There’s not any real accountability, but we’ve attempted to manage the system as best as possible and only rarely received complaints.

That doesn’t mean that there’s not a better way.

With that in mind, the News and Tribune is switching today to a Facebook-based system for commenting on our articles and columns. This means that those who wish to comment must have an active Facebook account.

The main benefit of this is less anonymity and more accountability from those leaving comments — something I hope we all can agree is a good thing.

I have no problem with readers making strong comments, but I have always felt it’s best that those comments come with a real person’s name attached to them — just as we require for letters to the editor and Cheers and Jeers submissions. Using Facebook increases the chance of that happening.

Just like always, readers can click on a story at newsandtribune.com and there will be an option to comment on articles and columns. These will not need an editor’s approval, but the comment will show up with the reader’s Facebook account name and profile photo.

As always, the News and Tribune reserves the right to delete any comment it deems necessary for removal.

We hope that readers agree that a move toward accountability is a good one.

— Editor Shea Van Hoy can be reached by email at shea.vanhoy@newsandtribune.com or by phone at 812-786-5593.

You haven't missed anything, in more ways than one.

Back in the middle of August, the "Total Access" warning popped up several times when viewing News and Tribune articles on my iPhone. I did a screen shot of one, all the while thinking that Gannett (as in "net" profit) had purchased the state of Alabama. There followed an exchange.

I'm not sure what any of this means, so it's time for a beer. I reiterate my offer: I'm happy to pay for content, but it needs to be less than newsprint price, and absent the various SpamHansons that currently plague the experience.

By the way, congratulations to the new city parks director.

Another new beginning at the News and Tribune?

In order to read Jason Thomas's request for input, I had to hurriedly disable the sound on my laptop so as to avoid hearing the dentist recite for the umpteenth time her commitment to teeth since childhood.

So, since you ask: How about doing away with adman of the year Bill Hanson's arsenal of early 2000s-era spam-laden dog and pony shows?

As for the actual news, I'm sure we can come up with voluminous advice. Can't we?

Haven't we always? Yo, Bluegill ...

THOMAS: Staying relevant in an evolving media world, by Jason Thomas

... In Southern Indiana, the News and Tribune is your paper. In my new role as assistant editor, in less than two months I’ve already seen firsthand our readers’ passion on any number of issues. That jazzes us as journalists. As a native of Floyds Knobs and a graduate of Floyd Central High School, I consider the News and Tribune my paper, too.

So I’d like to use this space to say hello and ask a favor: May I pick your brain? What would you like to see covered in the pages of the News and Tribune? What do we do well? What needs work? Also of interest is how you read the paper. Are your fingers smudged with ink or are your thumbs sore from accessing our content via the web or your smartphone?

Finally, a 'Bune popup that really tells it like it is.

Why yes, it is (unretouched, non-photoshopped).

If we're really part owners, then can we abolish those annoying Hanson ads?

I muted the automatic audio, zapped an errant roll-over, and fought through the inevitable Hanson ad. It felt like an Alabama pensioner was eyeballing me, so I reached for my bug spray.

By that time, I'd entirely forgotten what it was I'd come to read. Ah, wait ... there it is: CHEERS AND JEERS — For Dec. 29-30.

CHEERS

... to our loyal customers and readers.

As we close out 2012, I wanted to thank our readers and advertisers for their loyalty and commitment at a time when there are many media and other outlets competing for your time and attention.

There are frustrations that come with any job, and working at a daily newspaper can be stressful. One reason for that is that people care so much about what goes in the paper. It’s important to them, and to us. The community often feels like part owners of the News and Tribune.

The good part of that is that people do care, and we strive every day to reward that loyalty with the best coverage around of Clark and Floyd counties.

Thank you and happy New Year.

— Editor Shea Van Hoy

Yes, I do.

Every time a News and Tribune pop-up ad misfires ...

 ... I'm definitely in the wrong place.

(screen captures at 4 p.m. yesterday; pop-up ads offending readers around the clock)