Quality content is worth the small investment Subscribing to paywalls will fund the industry in order to keep journalism alive

content, people would go to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram,” Moroney said.

In order to view this member exclusive content, subscribe to The Sidekick official website for $1.99 a month.

On April 29, 1996, The Wall Street Journal launched its official online presence. By August, the publication implemented the first “paywall” for subscribers with a free trial period.

Nearly seven years later, the paywall had increased in popularity for news publications worldwide. But, it is not because of the need to restrict news to the public. The fact that the paywall has publications’ begrudging acceptance shows the reason stems from the need for money.

On Feb. 15, 2011, The Dallas Morning News added the paywall to their online works. Jim Moroney, the CEO of the newspaper at the time, confided in his staff his wariness about the decision made. He warned his staff of the potential dangers that come with implementing a subscription service.

“I don’t think we can wait,” Moroney said. “The business has enough uncertainty around it.”

During the Future of Journalism hearing before the Subcommittee of Communications, Technology, and the Internet on May 26, 2009, Moroney predicted the potential negative effects associated with paywalls.

“If The Dallas Morning News today put up a paywall over its access is shut down. The freemium option also has the leeway of the metered access but rather than counting the number of site visits, freemium provides free access by type of content. Publications know incorporating the latter options will lose financial revenue in some way. Though it is beneficial by getting more consumers to the news topics to appease their audiences. The meaning of journalism is to present all opinions rather than a select few; it cannot be done if the journalists can’t get the information they need.

There is no set way to create and implement a paywall. The hard paywall is what is usually visualized when talking about online restrictions. It only provides the article’s headline and a couple of sentences to entice the readers.

California State University Long Beach associate professor Reo Song and his co-authors, Doug Chung at Harvard University and Ho Kim at University of experienced losses when they established paywalls.”

People believe the content behind the paywall needs to be worth it; but it always is. Despite what you may think, the journalists put their full effort into their work. Only allowing articles you feel are “good” is a faulty way to look at content consumption. Journalism is a worthy news source and needs to be valued as such. The revenue for the industry is rapidly declining and one of the ways to help keep journalism alive is through paywalls.

Buying a subscription does not mean the people sway what the journalists write about. There is no bias either way and paying journalists does not mean the people who give the money have the upper advantage with news.

Rather than just the stereotypical blocking of content immediately with harsh wording, sites have developed user-friendly ways to provide a balance of information and restrict access. The most common one currently is metered access.

Metered access is self explanatory: the publication allows users to view a set number of articles per month before the free source, it is also a way for people to side step getting a subscription. It goes to show that news sources are not trying to restrict access purely for capital gain. They want you to have access as much as they need to get money.

Quality journalism can only come when it is funded. Without the paywall source of revenue, journalists will have to rely more on clickbait or less hard hitting

Missouri-St. Louis found from their research that renowned companies such as The New York Times had a relatively positive result.

“Good reputation and exclusivity of content are the main factors that drive the success of [the] digital paywall,” the study concludes.

“Newspapers with less exclusive content, however, have

Adding a paywall is not a slight on the public. It is not meant to deny access to information or exclude certain demographics from receiving articles. It simply is a way to keep journalism alive, providing what is needed to produce content. We need to keep the industry alive because it serves our communities. It represents us.

The job of giving us information is on journalists’ shoulders. We have the job to support the industry that serves us.

Shrayes Gunna Student Life Editor @shrayesgunna

There it is - that funny feeling.

The months dwindled into weeks that became days In anticipation of Gracie Abram’s latest project “Good Riddance.” It is all but hours away from being the next fixation my mind escapes to.

With worksheets and books strewn across my bedroom floor, I drop my backpackheavy with the stress of the day. Thud.

Furled in my beige comforter in the corner of my room, I plug my headphones in.

My back slumps over as I take in the cut-and-dry lyricism, seemingly losing all structure. Despite the rain clouds making room for my eyes, I text to urge my friends to listen.

Yes, I cried. In retrospect, it is dramatic. But… I was excited. Excitement is not a novelty.

It does not have to fade away with time, as though the feeling - so cherished as a child - is nothing but a faint memory.

In trying to diagnose the cause behind ever changing perceptions of excitement, I found myself stumped. Perhaps it is in our obsession with minimalism, that more than sleek countertops and greyscale walls, our emotions must also look bleak in order to fit into societal standards.

Minimalism, the antithesis of the commonly asserted phrase “doing too much,” is a largely growing trend born out of the world of interior design. Through its dissemination among a vast majority of Generation Z and Millenials, it has influenced the ways in which people not only decorate their bedrooms and kitchens, but also the ways in which they interact with others and express themselves. The mental health tracking happiness and fulfillment… because they do not concern themselves with the minutiae of everyday life.”

It is in that notion that I find contention: “minutiae.” Of course, not every moment is worth getting wound up in. A bad grade on an assignment or sleeping through an alarm is not worth ruining your day, but it does not have to mean the opposite. A good grade or a productive morning should be something you celebrate, something you are excited about.

Debunking sibling stereotypes

Sreehitha Moravaneni Staff Writer

@sreehitha_morav

“You’re more spoiled aren’t you? You know, you’re younger.”

When looking at my sister Anoohya and I, people often assume that we are different, both physically and mentally. They assume specific character differences between us, which are often stereotypes based on our ages and do not depict the true nature of our personalities.

For example, people will claim that the younger sibling will make mistakes and not learn from them, or that they are spoiled and have it easier while the older sibling is more likely to know better.

This isn’t the case for everyone, as siblings are not one sizefits-all. Most siblings are a product of how they were raised, not so much of how they innately are expected to act and behave.

A common misconception about siblings is that the younger sibling is more likely to get away with making mistakes over their older sibling. This statement is far from the truth.

My experience as a younger sibling is vastly different from what stereotypes make me out to be. I certainly do not make any less mistakes than my older sister, if anything, I’ve probably made more.

For example, when I started driving. My sister, who is three app “Life Intelligence” highlights the trends’ positive influence on our choices, writing “...minimalists experience less stress and anxiety and more

At the point that we as humans - with a heart and emotions - sideline all the good as yet another “minutiae” is harmful. You are not lousy, but your one seemingly circumstantial success is outstanding nonetheless. It boils down to one simple thought: if you do not celebrate or get excited for yourself, no one else will. Excitement, despite popular culture painting it out to be dramatized, is infectious and natural. Whether excited for a film or a college acceptance, it is always OK to laugh, smile or cry.

Instead of being shy or shielding yourself from the T short-exchanges that resemble the far too common phrase—“doing too much”—ask yourself what “too much” is. Because if it means putting a colorful quilt on your bed instead of a white comforter or going out to dinner to celebrate the award you spent months on, then you are not dramatic. You are not excessive. You are not “doing too much.” and a half years older, was allowed to drive much earlier in her life than I was. It took me two more years, until I was nearly 18 and my parents believed I had reached a maturity level where I was competent enough to drive. I was conditioned to prove myself in order to accomplish things that were handed to my older sister. I had to prove myself to earn any of my accolades. I was constantly tested on my abilities, and had to reach a certain point where my parents felt comfortable sending me on my own way. In this way, I retaliate against the stereotype of the spoiled younger sibling. Proving myself to earn something is different from getting it handed to myself.

I choose to block out that noise with the sound of an album that I am not ashamed to say I cried to during my first listen (and continue to do so).

In the media, we see siblings portrayed in different lights in terms of their intelligence. Many characters from major television streamers growing up, such as Disney Channel, have a tendency of portraying older siblings as unintelligent, middle children as the “normal” ones, and the youngest siblings as the geeky, odd ones.

The Disney sitcom, “Good Luck Charlie”, for example, is about a family and their navigation of the arrival of a new baby. Son, PJ, is the oldest sibling, who is known for having the most childish personality of the three.

Teddy is the middle child, who is shown as a rational and mature thinker. Gabriel, is the youngest of the three, before the arrival of their younger sister, who is an outcast troublemaker but tries hard to fit into groups at school.

This representation of siblings on broadcast television only provides implications for future generations.

Stereotypes set future generations up to form a preconceived idea of what a sibling dynamic should look like and how they should act. A way to get around this problem is to prevent people from publicizing stereotypes on television media which tends to have a broad and potentially very impressionable audience, and instead represent different situations and unique relationships.

We need to stop normalizing generalized scenarios and attributing them to a stereotype. Instead, we should embrace the uniqueness of every dynamic and break out of the mindset of how a person’s behavior “fits” based on their role as an older , middle or younger sibling.

The severity of those stereotypes also differs from relationship to relationship; not everyone hates their siblings or loves their siblings. Some only have a surface level relationship with their siblings and that is fine.