Tag Archives: paywalls

Paying for News

I woke up this morning thinking about yesterday’s post. I know I sounded whiney about Education Week’s paywall and that, as an education professional, I should probably be paying for a subscription, something I did for years when it was a print publication. Not sure why I stopped when life went online other than perhaps I felt like the proliferation of information meant I didn’t need to pay for my education news. Plus, in the early days, you couldn’t get a digital only subscription and I just didn’t want those weekly newspapers. Yet, I still include Education Week in feedly and can pretty quickly eat through my three free articles. And, digital only editions are now available.

My main complaint is that, when I want to link to an article, I run the risk of readers not being able to access the article if they also don’t have a subscription or have used up their free access.

And, I wonder when I, along with lots of others, decided that news should be free? Education Week is a professional publication that hires journalists to report on ongoing news as well as to produce reports on the general state of education. Supporting them with my subscription dollars may help ensure access to quality reporting and commentary.

It’s a conundrum but for now, I’m coming down on the side of paying. What side have others chosen?