Hey, Sun! How About Free Local News?

Have you all noticed something about the Explore Howard page lately?  Such as, that in the last few weeks, certain local stories, which seem to be about the local stories the broader spectrum of people would care about, are now available only as part of the Baltimore Sun's online subscription service?  And not as part of the free Explore Howard content?

In my view, this sucks!  And it's just the latest in a line of indignities the Sun has foisted upon Howard County.  First, who exactly is the editor?  Has there been one in the last year or so?  Second, is there any sort of education reporter now covering Howard County schools?  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Amanda Yeager, some Luke Lavoie, and even some Blair Ames (although I'm not sure if it's Blair like in "Facts of Life" or in Blair Lee IV).  But methinks the issues regarding Howard schools, while presenting a great opportunity for a fresh face, ought to be covered by someone more than Random Passerby With Green Crayon.

And I'll also notice this; that this merging of free and paid content is coming suspiciously after Da Patch went belly up in the aquarium.  Or at least, pretty much belly up.  So I'm not sure if this move is a reflection of rising costs and diminishing advertising revenues, or of having no more competition.

All I do know is that either way, this sucks.  And I get that subscription media is the trend.  I've been bucking it and bucking it, but I know my days of online subscriptions are coming.  In fact, I had the online Sun subscription for awhile.

But I also think that we have a real scarcity of local news sources in Howard County and that we ought to be getting local news from the Sun for free.  Because if that doesn't happen, more and more people are going to be turning to blogs like this one to get their news.  And as much as I dig on that possibility, I don't get paid to do this and am not likely to in the foreseeable future.  I do this because I enjoy it.

So, Sun, turn that truck around and take those little blue plus signs off those stories.  Because you don't want to cede media supremacy in Howard County to me and my ilk, do you?  Cause if you do, speaking for myself, I'll club ya all over the head and shoulders with it until you cry for your mama.

August 6 is National Fresh Breath Day.  Pass out some Altoids to the stinky bastards in your life!  And if someone gives you a breath freshener of some sort today, take it, use it, and rethink your life.

Let's be careful out there.

Comments

[md_resident]

I've noticed that for a while now. Fewer and fewer local reporters and as you pointed out, a lot of the local content is behind their "paid only" firewall.

Patch hardly has any local stories anymore, short of the typical stuff like the police blotter.

We get the Columbia Flier still, but I rarely read actual newspapers anymore. If they can afford to print and distribute a newspaper for free, surely they can afford to release the content online for free.