Binging the news: Apple expected to unveil its monthly “Netflix for News” service

BY ISABELLA MARCON

On March 25, 2019, Apple will hold its first big product announcement of the year at the Steve Jobs Theatre on the Apple Park Campus. Industry insiders expect that the event will be focusing on a widely reported subscription news service.

While the details are not yet official, the Apple service would cost the consumer $10 per month and would feature unlimited access to news sources and magazines, including big media names like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.  

If successful, Apple’s move could usher in a new era of digital media that is further removed from the days of daily newspapers and nightly newscasts. News would be available for unlimited digital consumption as it breaks. The frustrating paywalls that limit users to only being able to access three articles per month from a particular news source, as well as digital demands from a single news source for a monthly fee, would be a distant memory.

In an industry of media that started January with over 2,000 job losses, Apple’s “Netflix for News” service can reinforce two concepts in the industry: good journalism having monetary value and having viable alternatives to social media platforms for quality news.

The Apple service would cost the consumer $10 per month and would feature unlimited access to news sources and magazines.

“I don’t think that it’s necessarily the future of news publications, but it’s definitely an important step forward,” CCHS yearbook staffer Joseph Lindenbaum said. “With an increasing dependence on the internet and a big name like Apple hosting the service, it will definitely make news more readily available.”

The devil, however, is in the details. On February 12, 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that media companies are resisting Apple’s financial terms, particularly the tech giant’s plan to keep approximately half of the $10 subscription fee, as well as Apple’s refusal to share subscriber credit card and email data with content publishers.

The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post have not reportedly agreed to these terms, but the Wall Street Journal has described its ongoing talks as “productive.” There is some concern that smaller publications may not be able to compete with Apple’s rumored mega-news platform.

“Big names like the Washington Post aren’t going to struggle too much if they turn down Apple’s offer, but lesser names might.”

“It depends on how popular [the publications] were in the first place,” Lindenbaum said. “Big names like the Washington Post aren’t going to struggle too much if they turn down Apple’s offer, but lesser names might.”

Despite these concerns, the benefits to print media seem to outweigh the negatives.

“I think Apple would change print media by making it more technological,” CCHS yearbook staffer Keri Pollack said. “This opens opportunities for people to have access to the news 24/7.”  

Whether print news publications are about to enter a brave, new digital world or go extinct remains to be determined. However, if the publishers and Apple can agree on financial terms that benefit both, we may be seeing the birth of the modern news platform at the Apple product announcement in March.

Photo courtesy of iMore