Haha. I feel your pain on pledge drive week.

But I can ultimately get behind the model of listener-sponsored content. Quality journalism isn’t free to produce, and so if it was free to listeners, all that means is that it’s sponsored by someone else. A certain industry, business, government, organization, etc.

I think that it is interesting to see what remains of the print news landscape now more than 10 years after this case study. Many papers have gone away and there has been a lot of consolidation. Some papers have gone to weekend only. The only ones that managed to survive were big organizations with the resources to adapt and consolidate,…

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Your point about ad-free, exclusive or bonus content is a good one. Those are good incentives to encourage subscription. It gives readers a feeling of belonging/supporting and provides a better reading experience. In the decade that has elapsed since this case study there have been many novel developments in engaging an online audience…

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They were “playing catch up,” for sure. But it seems like the technology of the digital age progresses so fast that there is almost no alternative for playing catch up. Even the creators of digital technology do not fully understand the scope of impact that there developments will have. I’m looking at you, Artificial Intelligence.

That’s true – perhaps there are other means besides a paywall that could help make up the lost revenue. Syndication, podcasts, etc… All things I didn’t think of.

I know I choose to budget money to maintain a couple of news subscriptions, and I don’t mind because it still ends up being cheaper/less wasteful of paper than a print subscription.…

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#1 Is the paywall working?

The paywall that The Times implemented is still in use today. Though much of the presented case information took place about a decade ago, The Times is still a prominent source of news relied upon by millions of readers. Though some readers may have been phased out after the creation of the paywall, The Times continues…

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1. Is the paywall working?

The paywall is at least plugging a hole in the dyke. There is now a line item of paywall revenue. It seems to strike a balance by charging those that rely on the print or digital version of the Times as a primary news source, but making a limited number of articles free per month to people who are more…

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I agree that Coach P. got “tunnel vision.” He seemed so baffled by the fact that the JV team outperformed the V team that he was more consumed by trying to figure out why this surprise occurred than trying to apply creative solutions toward improving the V team’s performance, morale, and teamwork.

Coach P. seemed somewhat to be trying to solve…

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I too thought it was interesting that smaller groups of two or three of the varsity members performed well together, but as a group of all eight boat members, they did not perform well.

My heart is with electronics… it’s what I teach and it’s what I enjoy. I sometimes conceive of group dynamics as being like an electronic circuit. A group of…

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You touch on status which has a unique manifestation in this case. One thing that is different about this team than other rowing teams that they compete against is that this team are all Army cadets of various rank. Communication on the boat may have been hindered by the differences of hierarchy on the boat and in the Army.

1. Why did the varsity team lose to the JV team?

The varsity team had little cohesion. There were too many strong personalities that approached the team event more as an individual endeavor. By the coach’s own admission there were no real leaders on the varsity team. A leader is typically a motivator, and responsive communicator. There are…

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