The Kids Don't Want to Pay for Content

Earlier this week I schlepped down to Cal State Fullerton as a speaker for its annual Comm Week, where I counseled students interested in careers in journalism to stay in school at least until I am ready to retire. (Yes, I'm all in favor of "giving back," but these days I try to make sure there's something in it for me, too.)

Anyway, the kids asked all the right questions, including several I couldn't answer -- like why websites charge so much less for advertising and how television can survive as an ad-supported medium if everyone just zaps through the commercials.

The most interesting moment for me, though, was when I asked about whether the audience (about 100 to 120, mostly students) would be willing to pay for access to their favorite websites and portals. Would you pay $10 a month, I wondered, seeking a show of hands, for Google? Not a single one went up.

Now maybe Fullerton students still do their searching and surfing out of books, but my guess is they're all Googling like crazy. The problem is that everyone is so programmed now to expect the easy availability of online content for "free" (that is, the cost of being exposed to some ads) that they're reluctant to part with cash, even if the cost is relatively small for something they use all the time.

The observation's strictly anecdotal, of course, but if it's correct, there are pretty significant implications for television, newspapers, and any other media dinosaur that's hoping to stave off extinction by charging for its content.

In the meantime, don't listen to what anybody tells you, kids. Your parents have plenty of money, and they're just dying to send you to grad school while we old farts try to figure all this stuff out.