Editorial of September 5, 2024

In Defense of the Paywall

They want us to pay for that information.” “The article is behind a pay wall.” “I would love to [assist], but I can’t read the article.” “Subscribe? No thank you. We get more information in the free papers.”

Iron String Press Inc., which owns and publishes “The Freeman’s Journal,” “Hometown Oneonta,” and the website, AllOtsego.com, also has a Facebook page where we share links to our own published content as well as news and announcements from community and municipal organizations.

Invariably, someone will take the time out of their busy day to post a complaint on Facebook when something they want to read is behind our paywall, similar to the comments above. It is not unusual for another reader to then copy and paste that protected content into the comment section, defeating the purpose of the paywall.

It always perplexes us when people are surprised by, dismayed with or downright ornery about the prospect of paying to read local news.

Iron String Press is a business, just like all the other for-profit and non-profit entities throughout Otsego County. We have rent and utilities to pay, a professional staff to support, printing and mailing costs, and a host of other expenses. We are providing a viable community service and, in the current economic climate—just like all these other businesses—our bottom line is ever top-of-mind.

Recently, we adopted a new business model for “Hometown Oneonta” which, until only about a month ago, was one of those “free papers” mentioned in the lead. In fact, from its launch in 2008 until August of this year, Iron String Press produced and circulated 8 MILLION free issues of “Hometown Oneonta.” Just think about that for a moment. Eight million free papers.

It’s no secret that newspapers in general, and weekly newspapers in particular, are struggling.

According to Statista, during the period from 2004–2023, 2,627 weekly publications closed or merged with other papers, and the number of non-daily papers fell from more than 7,400 to less than 4,800. From late 2019 to May 2022, an average of two newspapers closed per week.

“The loss of local newspapers accelerated in 2023 to an average of 2.5 per week, leaving more than 200 counties as ‘news deserts’ and meaning that more than half of all U.S. counties now have limited access to reliable local news and information,” researchers at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University have found.

Northwestern Medill, which publishes an annual “State of Local News Project” report, points out that there are 203 counties in the United States with no news outlets and that, in addition to losing almost a third of its newspapers, the country has lost almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists—43,000—since 2005. [We can attest to that, having been advertising since February for a staff writer, though Kristian Connolly was worth the wait.]

Also since 2005, the country has lost almost 2,900 newspapers, including more than 130 confirmed closings or mergers over the past year. “All but about 100 were weeklies, which are often the sole provider of local news in small and mid-sized communities. There are currently only 6,000 newspapers in the country, approximately 1,200 dailies and 4,790 weeklies,” Northwestern Medill reports.

This past week, Iron String Press staff writers and contributing writers reported on planned uses for and conservation of the former Boy Scout Camp in Milford, an Oneonta resident coaching rowers in the 2024 Paris Paralympics, safe handling of bats in the wake of an uptick in Otsego County residents being treated for possible rabies exposure, and the recent meeting of the Village of Cooperstown Board of Trustees.

Letters to the editor included your neighbors’ thoughts on the current presidential election, a drainage project in the Town of Otsego, books being removed from the Cooperstown Central School libraries and the unfortunate death of a homeless woman in the City of Oneonta, among other topics.

This week’s content is much the same, in that it is news of, by and for the people of Otsego County, reported on and written about by more of your neighbors.

If you are not interested in this local news then, by all means, keep kvetching about the paywall and don’t support our efforts. But if you value local news—and fair, honest, and impartial reporting—please consider subscribing to “The Freeman’s Journal” or “Hometown Oneonta,” or to the AllOtsego.com website.

Sadly, newspaper readers are a dying breed, largely because people can get real-time information on their mobile devices and computers and they find this to be more convenient. In recognition of this indisputable fact, all Iron String Press content can be accessed on AllOtsego.com. The annual online subscription costs just 10 cents a day.

So yes, our content is behind a paywall and, yes, we do want you to pay for access. In return, we will continue to do our best to cover Otsego County news, Otsego County people, Otsego County events and, well, Otsego County.

Only you can decide if local news—written, edited and disseminated by an independent, locally-owned publishing company—is worth paying for. We hope you feel that it is. In the meantime, we shall carry on.