Longing for the day ...

I hate to say I told you so ...

But I just found this Techdirt report, which says that uncle Rupert's paywalls are causing him a lot more trouble than they're worth.

Now, I'm hardly the only one to have predicted that paywalls would be unhelpful to newspaper publishers, but I must confess to being surprised at the extent of the backfire. A 90% decline in traffic is extreme.

Even i didn't foresee that people wouldn't treat the publication seriously any more because of the drop-off in circulation, which puts pressure on not only the advertising sales staff, but also on the journos. That's a doosy - how to destroy everything about the publication by locking your readership away from it ...

Just goes to show that the substitution effect is VERY strong in media. Even the Times doesn't attract enough brand loyalty to make it viable in the face of cheaper newspapers. I wonder how soon Murdoch will give this plan up and try to restore the damage - and how, exactly, he thinks he can do so.

Well, I'm going on the record right now as saying: "Hey Rupert. I'll help you. But you have to listen carefully and adopt new ways of doing things. Get rid of the idiots advising you right now and give me a call ... "