Here is an ad promoting The Morning Bulletin digital pitch to the Rockhampton region. Like with the Daily Mercury pitch I wrote about yesterday, if you take the deal at the 50% off price you get free access to News Corp. content.
The folks at The Morning Bulletin must have realised that there would be concerns about the dilution of local voices to cause them to run with a headline of LOCAL STORIES MEAN A GREAT DEAL TO YOU. With the majority of the content on offer through the deal not local, the headline could be seen as misleading.
While I am all for publishers monetising content, I am concerned for the impact of moves like this on local voices. People in regional communities need to decide how much they are prepared to spend on local content. That is the key driver of moves like this.
Here is the flyer:
Where does this end? Given the different stories they publish, could Fairfax offer free digital access to News Corp. content in return for a discounted long-term subscription?