Newsday's Pay Wall = Epic Fail

Growing up, my parents' newspaper of choice was Newsday, which means I have read a lot of Newsday in my time. I make no comment about my parents' choice, though I will say that if I lived in the New York metro area, within the coverage area of the Paper of Record, I probably wouldn't be reading Newsday, but whatever. (Also, I never realized that Maggie in Growing Pains had been a Newsday reporter, but then again, I never realized that the Seaver family lived on Long Island—which was where I lived—so apparently I wasn't the brightest child.)

Anyhow, Newsday, like all the rest of the newspapers out there, is foundering (yes, foundering, not floundering, but I'll spare you the vocabulary lesson). So, it took the leap and instituted a pay wall. It's not like other newspapers haven't been thinking it. Except here's the thing: Three months later, Newsday has ... 35 online subscribers. That's right. 35.

That's no good, but here's what's shocking: The publisher, in a quote that has since been removed from the Observer post, said "that the web was not intended to be a revenue generator, but rather to provide extra benefit to loyal subscribers."

Who wants to take bets on how long Newsday lasts?