(June 8, 2009) -- The websites of the LB Press-Telegram, Southbay Daily Breeze and SFV Daily News, part of the Los Angeles News Group which is part of Dean Singleton's Denver-based Media News Group, have launched what they call "E-Editions," pay-to-access websites that charge readers $65 a year for an "online-only subscription," $6 per year for E-Edition added to home delivery subscription...with the offer of free "three-day trial E-Edition access" before requiring payment.
The Press-Telegram website says its "E-Edition" lets users "navigate an exact replica of the printed newspaper...flip through pages and skim headlines just as you would with the printed newspaper in your hands [and] view articles, photos, games and comics with the click of a button."
Trying to view articles on the Press-Telegram E-Edition without paying for them after the three day free trial period appears to trigger the following message: "You must pay for an edition before viewing it. You have not yet paid to view the selected date."
Creating an account to access the paper's E-Edition asks the consumer to provide name, address, city...and demographic information, which the newspaper says won't be sold to third parties and is solely for its own use.
The PT announced the move in a half-page advertisement on p. A17 of its Sunday June 7 print edition offering the free "3-day trial preview." A link to the outlets' E-Editions appears in the upper right corner of the PT, Daily Breeze and Daily News corporate-template websites...although as of June 7, we didn't see an E-Edition link on the Pasadena Star News website. [We didn't examine all websites in the co-owned chain].
What are the company's plans for its currently free online website(s)? And its print edition(s)? We couldn't find that information online.
On June 2, the President of Media News Group Interactive, Oliver Knowlton, told LBReport.com that the company planned to do a lot of experimenting in ways that place a value on its printed copy without giving it all away for free online but said "the idea of a pay-wall isn't going to be it [because] there's too much of an advertising and audience base there to protect."
Mr. Knowlton said the company is "in the middle of trying to figure out" exactly how this will be done and indicated it might include some type of registration...or simply not putting all of the paper's content online.
Media News Group President Singleton previously indicated a move to such online models in general terms.
LBReport.com is Long Beach's independently published online news outlet and has steadily grown since beginning commercial operations in 2000 with stories (some in considerable depth) not reported or only subsequently reported by the Press-Telegram and others.
LBReport.com recently adopted a new, larger page design with new online community news links and advertiser features.
