11-06-2009 KC STAR TO CHARGE FOR SOME CONTENT ON ITS KANSASCITY.COM SITE The Kansas City Star has notified registered users of its KansasCity.com Web site that effective 9/4/09 it has implemented new "Terms of Service" that will include a subcription or surcharge for certain on-line content. The McClatchy-owned paper has been forced to dramatically reduce its staffing levels, seen its circulation drop and has tried all kinds of methods to generate additional revenue, including dramatically increasing the cost of the paper (Photo at right: Star Sunday paper went from $1.25 to $2.00). As an example, former KC Star subscribers are now being offered a new subscription package that runs from Wednesday through Sunday (not daily as is the traditional model) for $1.25 per week (plus an E-subscription on the paper's Web site). Most recently the paper announced it was more than doubling the cost of its Thanksgiving Day newspaper to subscribers. In January 2007, the Star tried to move to a pay-for-content model (at a reported $400 per year) with its "KC Buzz" blog that was designed to give on-line readers inside information on political happenings. That experiment failed and by September 2007, the newspaper was forced to end the experiment, refund money to Buzz subscribers, and begin offering the content for free again in its "Prime Buzz" area.
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