Public-Service Journalism? Hearst Won’t Suspend Subscription Paywall During “Pandemic”

It’s easy for media management to use staff in the cause of trumpeting “public-service journalism” during a crisis, but staff has no control over providing free website access during “a global pandemic.” Only management can do that. Hearst Connecticut Media that owns the Connecticut Post and a bunch of other media outlets in Connecticut continues to require a fee to read its coronavirus coverage while some media outlets have suspended website paywalls.

The New York Times:

We are providing free access to the most important news and useful guidance on the coronavirus outbreak to help readers understand the pandemic.”

Wendy Metcalfe, vice president of content and editor-in-chief at Hearst Connecticut Media writes, “As each of our editors, reporters, photographers, columnists, digital producers, print production team members and many others balanced the needs of their own families and their health and safety, they continued to fully step up to bat for our readers … As intense public concern mounts, not only are we publishing news that matters, we are doing so with heart.”

How has management stepped up for readers? How has management utilized its heart? We emailed Wendy for a comment. No response.

From Metcalfe:

News of the coronavirus hitting had been ramping up quickly that day. With two cases already confirmed among hospital workers within Connecticut’s health network, confirmation of the first presumptive positive case in the state broke around noon on Sunday, March 8.

Our team of almost 200 newsroom staff at Hearst Connecticut Media Group was doing what journalists do–bringing our readers important news in the time of a crisis. Public-service journalism, which results in societal good or change, runs deep in our veins. It fuels us to act quickly, responsibly and thoroughly, heightened furthermore at a time that has now become a global pandemic.

As each of our editors, reporters, photographers, columnists, digital producers, print production team members and many others balanced the needs of their own families and their health and safety, they continued to fully step up to bat for our readers. The many communities we serve across Connecticut are our communities as well. We are your neighbors, our children attend the same schools, we shop at the same grocery stores, attend similar events. Why does this matter? As intense public concern mounts, not only are we publishing news that matters, we are doing so with heart.

Full column here.