Posted 5:06 PM by Gene

I should not be redundant but CHARGING WON'T WORK. SLIMES think the problem is the "structure". No, OJ's would-be publisher, the problem is the content. What do You offer, SLIME, that's worth paying for? Don't say the Journals; they're free through GOOGLE. And they're not what they used to be, thanks to Your overpaying -- the big reason You're huffing and puffing to charge. Who in his right mind would pay for DA POST? And why should we pay for stories about Your Major Bowes act, or Obama's burgers, or stories on stupid Web sites? And that's ninety percent of the total news hole these days. Yes SLIME -- and COMPANY, the Web is an easier (though not a better) way of getting the news. But that isn't the all of it. If people genuinely liked their papers they might still pay for them despite the inconvenience. What's more, once you start charging, SLIME and COMPANY, your most precious talent will do a vanishing act -- like the vaunted columnists of The Paper of Re-CORD. Remember? And how much pay-worthy talent do you have? I for one would not miss Frank "STROKE!" Rich again -- or David Gurgle Jr. And how do you account for your star writers who frequently blog? And the problem with charging is it's not just news, it's all media. Who wants to reward JUNIOR for his no-talents? And people are running away even from free media; why should JEFF ZUCKS live in luxury picking shows by throwing darts at targets, and hitting their viewers in the behind? You merely exacerbate that situation by charging. The one mass medium not seeing audience declines is the movees, and they have a small but devout (and stupid) following that will pay for anything; the rest of America knows better. Why should the news biz be magically exempt from public exasperation? No, all that happens if you charge is a few free sites rack up the traffic, and the ASSPress, already America's defacto state news organization, tightens its grip. How does that help you?

The only answer to this supposed tragedy -- and let us not underestimate the Democratic Congress's capacity for stupid ideas -- is an Internet content tax, maybe $5 or $10 per subscriber per month, to pay for the news. But we know BIGMEDIA: the money will go straight into profits and only improve content on the margins, if at all. No SLIME and COMPANY, you brought this richly deserved fate upon yourselves -- by gutting the content.

P.. S. Mort Zuck's idea of BINGO has many problems (like opening the door to uncontrolled Web gamb -- GAMING, for one) but it may not be as dorky as it sounds.