So many of us have got all too comfortable with the idea of “free” news. These are our online sources which we continually rely on for meaningful daily doses, but seldom count their costs. As print outlets have been dropping off in record numbers, the idea of a paper’s usefulness is called into question. Websites are eager to generate unique users and happily share their hard-earned journalists with the public, for free.

It’s a fairly naive belief to think that this will last forever, or that it should. Financial Times (acting in accordance with its reputation) is leading the way; charging readers for content and not offering an apology. Bravo. Journalism worth reading is also worth paying for, regardless of what advertisers contribute to the running of a business.

Let’s admit it, we are an entitled public. Relative to other countries, American companies respond with more alacrity to changing consumer demands. Sometimes they do this at their own peril, unable to keep up our bulging appetites. Point being: we should happily pay for good journalism and reporting, just as we pay for other mainstays. Journalism (as the fourth estate), is thankfully not underwritten by our taxes, nor should it ever be. Advertising dollars are fantastic when you can come by them in a troubled economy, but really, the news isn’t owed to us.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under The Other Side. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.