Though you would expect one of Missouri's leading newspapers to be forthright and honest with its readers, not one mention is made in the e-mail about the real reason the change is being made: Nobody was buying the premium service.
As I wrote earlier, I was a bit disturbed about the fact that the Star was taking work done in The Turner Report and other blogs, which we provide free of charge and charging its readers to see it.
Of course, the blogs were not the only content of Prime Buzz, but often the other content included much material from Associated Press and newspapers that was being provided elsewhere at no charge.
While I understand the Star's motivation for the move, it was ill-conceived. Free access to information has become, rightly or wrongly, one of the reasons why the internet is so appealing to so many of us. Internet newspaper sites are beginning to make money, and eventually will, but it is going to have to be advertising based. The Star's effort and the New York Times' failed attempt to charge premium prices for the offerings of its top columnists show that readers simply have too much available to them. Specialized content can still be sold, but let's face it, the Kansas City Star's political content, while often quite good, is not worth paying a premium price for.
The Star's e-mail reads as follows:
What’s that buzzing?
You asked for it; we listened. Starting Tuesday afternoon, Prime Buzz is free!
When we say free, we mean all of Prime Buzz, The Kansas City Star's political blog that formerly was subscription-only. Access to local and regional political coverage, FREE. Political commentary and municipal agenda previews, FREE. And we’re continuing to offer, FREE, the weekday e-mailed Prime Buzz summary — one of many enhancements over The Star’s former free political blog, the KC Buzz Blog.
"We built the best political Web site in the Midwest, and we appreciate those who recognized the value of Prime Buzz by subscribing to it, signing up for a free trial or otherwise figuring out a way to access it," said Mark Zieman, The Star’s editor.
"But covering our democratic process is at the core of what we do. Coming into an election year, we decided to trade the extra subscription revenue for a chance to bring that important content to a much greater audience."
To join the conversation, go to KansasCity.com starting Tuesday afternoon and click Prime Buzz. You won't need a username to read content. But if you want to comment and receive the Prime Buzz summary, you’ll need to register and supply a valid e-mail address. That’s also necessary for former Prime Buzz users.
Those who purchased a Prime Buzz subscription will be able to receive a partial refund, prorated to reflect the unused portion of the subscription. An e-mail to each subscriber supplied details.
Because some site changes are needed, Prime Buzz will be shut down Monday, Sept. 3, and Tuesday morning, Sept. 4.
Grab a front-row seat in an election cycle that’s already running hot. Find it fast, get it first — Prime Buzz.
Though I was told Turner Report items were picked up once or twice a week on Prime Buzz, I never saw more than one or two readers who actually used the link to come to this site. I would guess the same is true for every other blog that was mentioned on the site. When The Turner Report was mentioned on the earlier Kansas City Star political blog, it always received dozens of hits. The change is overdue and thanks to Star editors for realizing it- however, it would have been better if the Star had not tried to make it sound as if the premium product was a gigantic success- it never was.
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