Im curious what the alternatives are the author considers to be acceptable?
From what I understand, the press is under assault from all sides... Internet has killed paper subs, political influence is attacking them... like what do you expect them to do?
It's sounds like he wants them to offer paying subscribers the choice to opt out of marketing emails? I'm a bit confused by your implication that journalism is somehow contingent on sending email spam to people who are already paying customers.
This is one of the main reasons that Amazon is my default online merchant, despite all of my reservations with them: a purchase won't increase the amount of marketing email I receive. I don't know how much spam they send to new accounts, but I must have my preferences tweaked to eliminate most of it. Contrast that to every merchant that thinks that since I bought a product from them once, they should spam me multiple times per week, oftentimes even when I've unchecked the "receive marketing emails" box.
I expect them to treat subscribers well so they will renew.
NYT is doing great though. It’s actually doing so well it’s in danger of becoming a monopoly.
> like what do you expect them to do?
Take my money, show me content. No adverts. No spam. Let me unsubscribe if I want to.