... to the Washington Post.
ADDED: I should have linked to the particular post where Eugene Volokh explains the move: here. When I put up this post last night, it was too late for me to spot the relevant post title, which is very funny to me early in the morning: "In Brazil, you can always find the Amazon — in America, the Amazon finds you." The post makes no mention of Jeff Bezos.
That post was also useful in pointing me to the method for getting free access to the whole WaPo site which you can do if you have a .edu and .gov email address. (More important to me than that is whether I can get my readers over the paywall when I link. That's true at the NYT, where I pay for my own access.)
January 21, 2014
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I am sad to see it. I loved it as a blog. Now? A paywall.
Prof. Althouse, what everyone wants to know, upon reading this, is:
Would you?
Now? A paywall
You'll have a 6 month grace period.
I thought it was some kind of glitch that they would fix. So how many articles before you get to the paywall? It seems like the WSJ would be a better choice.
Eugene sold out. Sad. I give it a full year before it trickles full bore left wing bullshit.
Eugene, Eugene, Eugene . . . I thought you were one of the last bloggers with integrity . . .
So how many articles before you get to the paywall?
10.
Says so in their article.
So sad. I mean, I can see why the Conspirators would want the eyeballs. But a commentariat like the VC's -- knowledgeable, civil, ideologically diverse -- is a fragile thing. There are very few of them. (This is another of said very few.)
What it will look like after the double shock of a wave of departures from the regular commenting contingent and the forseeable influx of WaPo readers I can't even guess.
Apparently access will be free for six months, then behind the paywall it goes. And behind the paywall I probably won't follow it. I love VC, but not enough to subscribe to the WaPo just for it.
While I too fear it will work to the ultimate detriment of the VC, let's look on the bright side. A move like this means that Jeff Bezos 1) knows of worthwhile "ideologically diverse" sources on the internet & 2) he actually intends to try & bring some of that diversity into the WP.
People, the paywall can be avoided by clicking on links from the VC twitter feed. Or, if you're of a mind, by simply opening the Washington Post site in an incognito instance of your browser. Chillax.
I like the Volokh Conspiracy and have read it for years. I don't care if they connect with the Washington Compost. But I won't pay for it. I buy things at Amazon through the Althouse link and the Instapundit link, but I won't pay to read Glenn or Ann's opinions. I don't think I'm alone.
Bezos must be paying them a hefty sum. Can't be the Lefty audience they are pinning for.
Michelle said everything I wanted to say. I hope things work out for them, but I'm pessimistic.
I'm not optimistic.
The move to Disqus for commenting destroyed at least half the value that the commentariat was adding.
Bad as that is, the WaPo's commenting system looks even worse. We shall see, but I'm willing to bet after 6 months things will look pretty sad over there.
Ever since Jen Rubin went on the WaPo Gresham's Law of trolling seems to have occurred.
Come to think of it, the WSJ gets a disproportionate amount of robotic "you're against the tired, the poor, the huddle masses yearning to breathe free" troll comments too.
And Althouse....
But I still read all those blogs.
BTW, I think I'm open to diverse thought; just not "the sort of rhetoric that seems appealing–nay, irrefutable!–when you are crafting it over drinks with like-minded friends, but that falls entirely flat when you deploy it against people who don’t share your priors.”
Brent said...
Eugene sold out. Sad. I give it a full year before it trickles full bore left wing bullshit.
That already happened. Guest bloggers.
Back in the day, Volokh was the best. But, hey-how much can one man do and for how long? He's still the father of law blogs; presenting both sides, and never scolded his readers for not 'thinking deeply'.
I agree with Young Hegelian. Bezos has started to change his MSM paper. Soon, the news articles should look more like blog posts IMO. WTF does the typical MSM news story have the same rigid structure they used 100 years ago? And they should just put their opinion outfront in their news stories instead of hiding it as if we can't see the opinion bleeding all thru the news story.
The first piece I tried to read on the new site took me to the wrong post, and attempting to read it on the old site just redirected to WaPo. Not impressed. RIP.
When Jennifer Rubin moved from her role as a major blogger at Commentary to the WaPo - her Right Turn blog suddenly turned left.
Ownership at the Washington Post changed hands, but all the editorial staff remains on board.
I hope that Eugene and his blogging Law Profs find fun and profit at the WaPo - but know that policy is policy in the land of the progressives.
Great move! Now there will be lots of folks around who can correct Eugene's lousy grammar.
Too bad there's a paywall. Until he banned me, I used to give him grammar advice for free, but I sure won't pay for the dubious privilege.
He never did get over his propensity to say, "...forbid S.O. from doing S.T...." He's probably busy now trying to "forbid" the Post "from" editing his poor writing.
...never scolded his readers for not 'thinking deeply'
I just thought I re-post that.
" I think I'm open to diverse thought; just not "the sort of rhetoric that seems appealing–nay, irrefutable!–when you are crafting it over drinks with like-minded friends, but that falls entirely flat when you deploy it against people who don’t share your priors.”
I used to read and comment on left wing blogs. They began to delete my comments routinely and now I don't bother. Their comment threads are small, but they seem to prefer the bubble. HuffPo does the same. They have a bigger comment thread but very little diversity in thought.
I actually enjoyed the debate but it quickly became an obscene ad hominem mess. Too bad. They need to see other opinions.
Volokh slipped a big notch when he dropped Clayton Cramer.
What Michael K said.
I too used to post on left blogs. My death was wished by lefties in the comments at least 100 times. The problem with the bubble is these mental stumps actually believe they are the ones openminded.
Oh no, the VC comments section will go to hell. It's going to be full of lefty trolls.
Why didn't the WSJ buy VC instead? That's a better fit.
GG.
Why didn't the WSJ buy VC instead?
Maybe Volokh realized that NYC just crossed a downhill tipping point and that D.C. is on a permanent boom?
Eugene sold out. Sad. I give it a full year before it trickles full bore left wing bullshit.
Supposedly they have full editorial control. I find it unlikely that the Volokh crowd will drift to the left.
Unfortunately, since they'll be behind a paywall six months from now I'll never know for sure...
VC was my introduction to blogging. And, I am not a happy camper. My stable for the last most of a decade has been Drudge, Instapundit, VC, and that crazy law professor at Wisconsin. Not only is it going behind a paywall, but .gov and .edu accounts get it free. Why a supposed libertarian blog would esp give overpaid govt bureaucrats free access is beyond me, while charging those who essentially pay their salaries. I have no intention of supporting a notably left of center organization with my hard earned money. I will reconsider when the paper moves to the center in its reporting, and quits acting like a protector of the DC powers.
And my experience at the WaPo VC site didn't start off auspiciously - it apparently ate my first comment. Happens here, of course, but Ann has a good excuse: it doesn't happen that often, you know about it immediately, and Blogger is free. WaPo has no excuses.
Althouse could fit in Dog Fancy magazine.
Seems okay to me. I don't read ten VC posts a year anyway. Somebody has to link to one.
to the Washington Post.
Well. He's going to be working for The Best High School Newspaper In The Country!
That's what got me kicked off their website.
That. And pointing out that Eugene Robinson and E.J. Dione had the critical thinking skills of a head of cabbage.
I doubt he'll raise the tone-dirty water, clean water, and all that, but he'll get a wider audience.
"The move to Disqus for commenting destroyed at least half the value that the commentariat was adding."
Bingo, it was a great blog until this happened. I rarely go there now. It is a good sing that Bezos seems to get it. Time will tell. I will not directly put money into the WaPo, just as I would never read MoDo who needs to update her PhoTo.
I almost forgot, if you are a .gov its free. What a bunch of hypocrites.
Bezos is shaking the place up. If you are wondering about the WSJ, it may just be that Eugene decided that Bezos is smarter than anyone at DJ&C. We'll see.
Big tent democrat! That's funny right there.
How nice that you found it useful to receive for free something I have to pay for because I don't work in .edu academia, I only support it with my tax dollars earned in non-.edu world, along with the rest of those .gov workers who get it free as well.
Enjoy free content on my dime. And, no, the irony of a bunch of libertarians agreeing to shaft their regular readers in favor of granting free access to .edu .gov employees is not delicious enough to drive away the sour taste.
Liberal media.
Well, it was a great blog while it lasted. The new site is awful looking. I've seen many great blogs turn media-focused, giving me only headlines and brief blurbs on the front page, forcing me to click through a link to see the whole actual argument. The best blogs allow me to skim all but the longest posts just by scrolling down the front page. I stopped reading PowerLine when they went to a headline-oriented, multi-column front page. I don't really follow Breitbart.com for the same reason.
And you can tell from Eugene's announcement post that the comments section instantaneously went to pot. As Volokh grew over the years, the comments got more and more obnoxious, but they were able to keep the worst vitriol and stupid, repetitive arguments in check. With an influx of new WaPo readers, the remaining high-quality commenters are going to stop wasting their time, and all we'll be left with is the bloggers themselves, but (as I think Prof. Althouse has discovered) that's just not enough to make for a vibrant blog. The commenting community is important and valuable in its own right.
I wish Eugene and the co-conspirators all the best, but I won't be stopping there much any more.
edu and gov email get free access? bull manure! forget income inequality, I want web equality
Michele Dulak Thompson and Bruce Hayden, I always looked forward to both your comments on the VC, as voices of reason. I had the same list of blogs of you Bruce when I started commenting on VC in 2006.
I watched in dismay as the comment section became infected by a more literate, but just as vitriolic and doctrinaire, class of commenters as this blog's garage and Inga. Pretty soon it was dominated by them and still is.
It got so bad I emailed one of their more famous constitutional law bloggers to express my concerns. He agreed with me but said it's Eugene's blog and he seems unconcerned with the situation.
I finally got banned last year by the site's RINO. I guess he was getting fed up with my referring to him to as a "Frumista". He is the only blogger there I have ever seen direct undeserved ad hominems at commenters, and is the only poster there who loves having "jukeboxgrad" there, the former Kos diarist, with his JBG links that referred to other JBG comments he made that linked to other JBG comments he made that linked to...which supposedly proved something. (He now infests National Review Online.)
I predicted it would only get worse on another blog several days ago, once the rabid WaPo leftist comment brigade gets wind of them.
Too bad.
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