The last time the Daily Journal raised a paywall, or rather, turned to an online subscription access model, people hammered us for being greedy and actually quite terrible for even thinking of charging for our work. After all, many said, the newspaper itself is free. Why would we charge online?
I’ll get to all that soon enough. The second point I’d like to make is that we understand more than most that this is a difficult time and that people are stressed out. But that doesn’t mean you should take it out on us. If you are going to complain or raise a concern about something, please try to do it in a nice way. Reach out. Say hi first. Express your concern in a civilized manner. Don’t be passive aggressive. We are reasonable and nice people.
Both of these things point to perhaps a misunderstanding about what the Daily Journal is and who runs it. There might be an idea that we are some big conglomerate media company with access to big pockets and a big agenda. Both are not true.
We are a small locally owned business with substantial overhead and limited revenue in an industry that has seen rapid changes over the past few decades. Payroll is a large expense but so is printing, distribution, the website and rent. We are in the same boat as every other small local business. Make no mistake, we don’t want you to cry for us, we chose this profession because we were called to it. We believe in community service. We didn’t do it for the money.
The unfortunate reality is that it takes money to run a business. Greed is not a factor. Believe me, if I was greedy, I would not be a journalist. Our business model when we launched in 2000 was to take advantage of new desktop publishing technology and focus our news on local communities while supplementing it with wire stories provided by the Associated Press and Bay City News Service. While our small newsroom started out just covering San Mateo and Burlingame, our beats now include a large and ever-growing portion of the county from South San Francisco to Redwood City and from Half Moon Bay to Foster City.
Our papers are free, and paid for by advertising. But more people are moving online. Times change, and business models must change with them. More papers are moving to the paid online model and we made the difficult decision to do so as well. However, we have removed the paywall for the last two months during the COVID-19 crisis simply because it was the right thing to do. As an essential business, our stories contained key information for the people of San Mateo County. However, on Tuesday, May 26, we will raise the paywall once again as the urgency of the health orders is no longer as pronounced as it was in the early days of the shelter in place.
During this shutdown, we have suffered financially as many other small businesses. We have made some very unpleasant cuts. We simply can no longer afford to give our product away for free online and we hope you can support us as we have supported you now, and into the future.
Back to my second point. I don’t mean to be rife with complaints, but I’ve noticed a certain vibe in the last couple of weeks. Could be people are frustrated with the health order’s length or aren’t used to the changes necessitated by coronavirus. Not sure. But people have been a bit more cranky.
I always recommend anyone reaching out to us to do so with civility. I like to think we are decent people who will listen to all points of view and heck, even incorporate those viewpoints in our overall coverage as it continues. That’s our job. But it’s not our job to make sure everyone is quoted in a story. We write what we see or hear and pick quotes that emphasize the action of that. We think of the reader. We don’t take minutes of meetings or run press releases or statements from groups or individuals in their entirety. We are not here to run PR for agencies, groups or any individual. We are not here to frame your narrative but rather to give a complete picture. We also cannot read your mind or perceive more than what is presented.
However, we do want to hear from everyone. If you think we missed the boat, let us know. Give us a call and have a civilized conversation. We can walk through it together. Offer to be a resource for us. But try to be kind.
We could all use a little more of that these days. And a few online subscriptions.
Jon Mays is the editor in chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.
(13) comments
I became a full subscriber at the $99 level, and a few weeks back encouraged my neighbors who read Nextdoor to do likewise. Thanks for the service you provide to the community (even though some of your columnists are more right wing than many of the residents around here 😉!).
SM Daily Journal is one of my major sources for local info
Have been a paid subscriber for a while and will continue
Thank you, Jon and the owner for this product and the service provided to the community
The very expensive to produce and distribute print version is free, presumably supported by ad revenue. Companies like FB and Google make billions from online ad revenue, so why isn't' or can't the online version also be supported by ad revenue? Each additional viewer of the online version costs, to the nearest approximation, approximately $0.00 ... so I'm curious why Mr. Mays' column doesn't explain why the very expensive to produce print version is free while the very, very cheap online version is behind a paywall?
We get advertising in print. We don't get sufficient advertising online. Mainly because companies like Google and Facebook vacuum it all up.
I only have so many words to explain things, so I couldn't get to it. Also, as small local businesses have a hard time staying afloat, they advertise less. Our overall advertising revenue declines as small local businesses decline in number. And the website isn't "very, very cheap."
I also have subscribed for a while. I recently upgraded my online subscription to the e-edition so that I can also see the puzzles, cartoons, restaurant articles and ads along with other things. I would pick up the hard copy when I could but with the SIP conditions I don't get a chance. It is definitely a good value.
Agree with you. I haven't been going out much, so it's nice to be able to still read the SMDJ and get the e-edition. The only problem is I had to change my handle due to some password issues. Regardless, it's definitely worth the money!
I may use space in my next op/ed to say more about what Mr. May's wrote in his today but for the moment it is enough to write one word: ditto!
I had to change my Name to Tommy Tee when I paid for a subscription. It's still me GT!
Terrence--you're more than welcome. "Outright lies?" You mean when I quote The Orange One?
I have been a subscriber since SMDJ has started subscriptions. I read it every morning six times a week and it is the best source of local information. I encourage others to support this newspaper and the great stories that are reported. It is so valuable to our community and I intend to keep subscribing. Consider doing it yourself, it is a resource that is vital to your community. Thank you.
I subscribe for several reasons but one is to read CC's daily screed on why Trump is so great. [sad]
Same here. And not mention his better half, Terrence!
GT, thanks for the shout out. I’m glad to know I live rent-free in your head. Somebody has to counteract your fake news and outright lies to the general public. You should heed George Bernard Shaw, “Beware of false knowledge: it is more dangerous than ignorance.”
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