Virginian Pilot Begins Charging for Digital Access - A Step Toward Suicide

Virginian Pilot publisher David Mele

Writing a blog and being contacted by would be advertisers I know one thing:  to get paid for advertising online, the number of page views a blog or publication receives determines advertising rates and ultimately long term viability if making money is the main motivation.  The folks at the Virginian Pilot don't seem to get this reality and/or suffer from the delusion that they are in the same league as the New York Times (10 free articles a month) or Washington Post (20 free article a month).  Hence, going forward, Pilot online readers will get only 10 free articles a month.  

The Daily Press was even more draconian and allowed no free articles.  The result?  I don't even bother to look at the Daily Press and don't link to it at all anymore.  The Daily Press was always an inferior paper, and since sifting to charging for online access there has been a parallel further decline in its content.  Hence, the boyfriend and I dropped our 3 day a week print subscription.  The Daily Press frankly seems headed toward extinction.  The Virginian Pilot seems headed for a similar fate in my view.  Readers should expect a marked drop in this blog's references to and links to the Virginian Pilot.  I hope that helps decrease its page views.  Here's the Pilot's bullshit reasoning:

Our next change begins today, as we implement a new membership model which will require subscriptions for unlimited access to our journalism and content online.

Current subscribers to The Virginian-Pilot will receive membership and full access to our digital content as part of their existing subscriptions, at no additional charge.

For nonsubscribers, we will allow some sampling of our content on a monthly basis, with a system that will require membership to gain access to our digital content after 10 articles are read. Some sections of our websites will remain freely available, including home pages, obituaries, and online marketplaces for jobs, autos, and real estate.

There are plenty of free news outlets where one can find better quality coverage.  Truth be told, the Pilot only cares about selling advertising.  Quality journalism has always been a secondary concern.  Online traffic will seek these out and one can hope that the Virginian Pilot meets the end it deserves as readership declines further and advertisers balk at paying for inferior coverage.

What's Your Blog's Type?

I found a link over at Andrew Sullivan's blog that purports to be able to determine what "type" a blog represents. The site is here. Try it out on your own blog and see what interesting results you get back. I ran this blog through it and here's what it said:

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The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications. They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

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I don't know if I agree with the last sentence, but in any event, I am not going to lose sleep over it either.

Meet My Readers

The first of my readers that I would like to introduce is Euphoric from Real Euphoria (http://realeuphoria.com/index.php) out of Australia. Euphoric describes himself as follows:

I’m 35 and don’t mind getting older. I think part of it is I know I look good for my age, probably due to the youthful blessings of genetics. Career wise I spent 10 years or so in marketing and advertising, primarily in Sydney. But after while I got fed up with plastic world and unethical expectations on me just to make shareholders happy! I didn’t like working around people who didn’t have an eye on the future but merely on appearances. So I quit, picked up and moved to Queensland where I made a choice to only work for a not for profit. I truly wanted my job to benefit the community. So I looked at opportunities and took one. Since then I have had one job change but have stayed in the sector. It helps when you love what you do.

I love Euphoric’s belief in love and his way of looking at relationships. His posts frequently really touch my heart and mind. I am glad to have come to know him through his Blog. I will let Euphoric tell you a bit more about himself:

All my bloging friends know that I am a relationship kinda guy. So being single at the moment gives me time to think and work on myself. I remember relationships I have been in and how after you have been seeing each other for sometime how you become complacent. Not in every way, but because you are concentrating on the practicalities that come with life you spend more time thinking about that and less about what made you fall in love in the first place. I remember someone once saying that when you wake up every day you should thank the universe for giving you this person. Everyday remember the things you love about them and everyday tell them you love them (and mean it).

I recommend his blog, Real Euphoria, without qualification.

My Readers

I thrilled that I am getting visitors from around the USA and other parts of the world. Taking a note from Real Euphoria, I'd love to know who some of you are. and introduce you to others. If you are willing, tell me about yourself, your blog, if you have one, and send me a photo (no x-rated, please) so I can post about the people I am meeting through my blog/story. While several guys have promised to send information, I am still waiting on someone to be my first reader introduced. If you want to be anonymous, simply say so and your identity will be protected. My e-mail is michaelinnorfolk@gmail.com

Hate Crimes and False Christians

Blogernista has an article on why the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes law is so badly needed (http://bloggernista.com/) The article describes the brutal gay-bashing of Chris Rico. Chris had to drive himself to the emergency room where he was met with distain from police and emergency technicans. All of this and we have 180 members of Congress including fourteen Democrats who voted against extending the current hate crime law to include LGBT people. Here’s Chris Rico’s description of what happened to him (Chris’ photo is posted above):

I was choking on blood face down on the ground before I even realized what was happening to me. As I struggled to crawl to my feet, I was greeted by thunderous kicks to my ribs and my temple and the venomous and inconceivable cry, “die fucking faggot.” Here in Palm Springs, alone and without warning I was being gay bashed. Two strangers filled with hatred, and clear intent, were trying to end my life simply because of who I am. As I began to realize that my life could end here in this rocky, abandoned lot where they had dragged me from my car, my survival instinct surged from the very core of my being. I began to fight back, take swings, kick, scream. I threw rocks. I grabbed a pipe on the ground and brandished it as a weapon. I’m quite certain that my animalistic rage and the sheer volume of my screams surprised them. Eventually, they slunk back into the night from which they came.

Things like this happen ever day, yet Chimperor Bush wants to veto a law that could help boost public awareness to the problem and perhaps prevent this type of hate based crime. That the Christo-fascists oppose this legislation seaks volumes about the falsity and perversion of their version of Christianity.