01-02-2017, 09:55 PM
Article Accelerator wrote:
[quote=$tevie]
So, you want them to charge you $5.95 before you can read it?
$5.95, eh? I'm pretty sure electrons are cheaper than paper, glue, ink, gasoline, physical delivery costs and all the rest of the expenses of producing and delivering paper magazines. I don't think $5.95 is justifiable…
If you think that $5.95 was for the physical product, you are mistaken. Most likely less than $1 was for those costs. The expense is paying for the staff and expenses related to the article.
Staff salaries at those publications are in the $70k/yr range. Freelancers will get $1k+ for articles. I used to get $100 just to send a file photo to Time. If I had to go shoot something, then it was $150/hr (2 hr minimum) plus $100 license fee per image; so $400 minimum. If it was an event (like a political rally) it could easily get to my day rate of $1000 plus expenses and license fee. Don't even ask about breaking news - that could be $5000 just for first look rights, then another $5k for useage and licensing.
Those fees have gone down due to the internet, but then so has revenue. People have no understanding of how expensive it is to run a news organization. You can argue that it should be less, but it isn't.