Subscriptions are Paywalls

Historically, blog posts provided information to readers without the subscription paywall which seems to be a large part of many online newspapers. But I’m beginning to see more and more subscription paywalls on blog posts. When bloggers everywhere are preaching information transparency, there’s a real disconnect here when a reader has to pay to read a blog post.

Long before my blog post days, I had always argued that research studies should be available to the public. I really don’t like to receive research summaries from a reporter who has a copy of the research paper I cannot access. I once asked a reporter for a copy of a research paper she had written about but she refused to give it to me. Of course, there’s the possibility she didn’t really have a copy of the research paper she was reporting about. She could have simply skimmed her information from the press release about the study.

Professional organizations use numerous different publishers to print their journals but then turn over control of access to the research articles in their journals to the likes of Wolters Kluwer to peddle to those who don’t have access to the articles as members. I find this really offensive. Sometimes you can find a copy of what you’re looking for in the National Library of Medicine, but at times there are no alternative ways to access the studies. On the other hand, the BMJ does it right. Open access to their research articles.

I’m sure lurking behind the control of academic research studies is the ivory tower assumption that only trained professionals can adequately review research, but then why are the studies being turned over to journalists? Obviously, some journalists are more experienced than general readers in reviewing a research paper (assuming they have more than the press release about the study), but that’s still no excuse to prevent the general public from having access to published research articles, especially if those research articles are sent to newspaper reporters.

There are any number of ways research studies can be biased. We have certainly learned a lot about research bias with COVID studies. Hiding research papers behind paywalls allow the bias to be hidden.

Newspaper paywalls are another source of irritation for me. The newspaper industry has taken huge hits with the decline of paper editions and the growth of online versions. I refuse to subscribe to an online newspaper I visit once a year for an article. So newspaper editors should perhaps open their eyes to the readers who turn away from a paywall rather than coughing up money to read one of their articles online.

I don’t have a problem registering with a newspaper to see a limited number of articles over a period of time. But don’t ask me to subscribe.

The newspapers I read most often online are those such as the Guardian, which humbly asks for a dollar donation at the bottom of the online page, but does not block their articles with a paywall.  Personally, I am much more likely to donate a dollar when I find a good newspaper article in the Guardian than I am to subscribe. Would these paywalled newspapers prefer readers leave their website without reading? Seems an odd attitude when newspapers are complaining about lack of readership.

And then we have blog posts, blog posts which are increasingly becoming subscription information. My intention is not to dis blog posters who have a high subscription rate. My concern is that blog posts which started out free with the offer of subscriptions have morphed into increasingly expensive pricing. Since bloggers set the price of subscriptions, I find it disconcerting to find the subscription rates increasing from $30 to $60 and $80 a year, often at the same time preventing reading some of the blog posts for free.

I have no problem with blog subscriptions offering something the free version does not, such as an interactive zoom discussion once a week, or even a podcast to subscribers. I just want to be able to read the blog post. Truth is, I won’t sit still for a podcast. If I’m going to tune in on a podcast, I need to see the transcript. Otherwise I’m off to greener pastures. Hasn’t anyone figured out with a transcript you can scan for the nugget of information you are looking for in about a minute?

Besides the price of blog subscriptions going up, I am finding some free subscriptions will allow me to read the blog post for free, but I am not allowed to comment on what I read. Eh? This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If I were writing said blog, I would like to know what my readers thought even if they were reading my writing for free.

I think it’s time bloggers put a nice Guardian-like banner at the bottom of their blog page allowing readers to donate $1 if they like what they read. I haven’t crafted a research study to document whether the donations would exceed the subscriptions, but even if I had that data, I wouldn’t share it with you. Unless you paid me.

We talk and write about transparency. I haven’t much confidence that the professional journals of the world will let go of their research studies for free since transparency has never been their concern. However, I think it’s time for newspapers and bloggers to practice what they preach.