More money for . . . .

If you’re like me – if you’re one of the 22,000 paid subscribers to “The Olympian” then you were probably confused as I was over the recent announcement of it’s publisher.

George Le Masurier, in a column in Sunday’s paper, told us that we were going to have to start paying $2.50 a month more to keep the paper coming;  along with access to its digital information.

And, all of you who cancelled your subscriptions and have been getting the paper – free – on line, will now have to start paying about $10 a month if you want to access the paper on line.

While many of us can argue with the publisher’s statistics on viewers, users and subscribers, his observation that delivery of the news has changed is – spot on.   Many people no longer depend on printed material for delivery of their news.

Le Masurier said that the definition of a newspaper has changed and that it now encompasses many other digital platforms.

And, he’s right.   The delivery of the news has changed.

But, like many other newspapers around the country, “The Olympian” made a mistake when the digital revolution burst on the scene a scant five years ago.   It gave its product away – free.

If you wanted to cancel your subscription and get your local news on line, all you had to do – was do it.

There in all of its glory was the news of the day – free to you.

It was a mistake made by hundreds of newspapers around the country, all of whom failed to grasp the significance of the digital revolution.

Only a few newspapers resisted giving away their product free.   Those papers have continued to thrive.

But those who gave away their product free are having a difficult time getting people to pay for it.

“The Olympian” has hit on a great idea.   Charge its current print customers for its on line product, even if they don’t want it.    It’s a built in new revenue source.

That’s brilliant.   I assume the idea came from somewhere else.