DNT online content roadblock

I pay full price for a print edition subscription of the Duluth News Tribune for my Mother, who is in a nursing home. I however, read what content I can online. Recently, I have been blocked from doing so by a message asking me to register for free access. I jumped through the hoops to do so and was instructed that an e-mail message would follow that would allow me to finish the process. Well, I never got an e-mail and I continue to be blocked from reading online content. Has anyone else run into this dilemma and does anyone have any suggestions on how to get around it? User friendly? Not so much.

26 Comments

akjuneau

about 12 years ago

Please send an e-mail (including the e-mail address you used to register) to [email protected], and we'll see if we can figure out what the problem is.

Andrew Krueger
Multimedia editor, Duluth News Tribune

Rij

about 12 years ago

Thank you for the prompt response.  I will do that tomorrow and report back with the  results.

Tomasz

about 12 years ago

If you're quick on the draw, you can hit the "stop" button (usually next to the forward/back buttons) on your browser.  This should stop the roadblock from popping up and allow you to read whatever story you'd like.  Depending on how quick you are, some of the ads or images may not load, but the text will all be there.

Rij

about 12 years ago

Problem solved.  Thank you akjuneau!

Dorkus

about 12 years ago

Now, what would be really nice is if DNT could figure out a way to NOT redirect to the main page after logging into their portal.

Why should I click on a link, be asked to login, then be pushed right back to the main page. Minor inconvenience in most cases, but sometimes it is enough of a pain in the ass to make me want to stick needles in my eyeballs.

Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a bit. But it is still annoying, and DNT would be wise to prevent any annoyances in their hopes to maintain their position as the top online news source of the Twin Ports.

emmadogs

about 12 years ago

It's also annoying to be blocked/asked to register/registering/still blocked/etc. every few months, which is what happened with our laptop PC. I'm hoping that won't occur with the iPad we have now.

akjuneau

about 12 years ago

Anyone else who has tech issues with the DNT site should send an e-mail to [email protected], and we'll do our best to figure out the problem. 

If something isn't working, it's usually a very simple fix and we're happy to take care of it.

Thomas

about 12 years ago

I have been in Duluth for about a year now and only read on-line.  I have a love-hate relationship with the DNT at this point.  I have never had any problem reading current news stories at all -- good.  But, and this is personal of course, I wonder about the management of their comments section -- bad.

We have this wonderful freedom of speech thing.  However, I think in today's world the ability of the public to access a public forum needs to be appreciated and respected.  Do the comments that regularly appear in the DNT really represent Duluth?  Does this have any impact on how those dreaded outsiders view Duluth?  Should there be a way of recognizing truth and reality in respect to access to a public media that also serves as a representation of its home circulation?
  
The DNT commentators scared me a bit about Duluth, then I found PDD. The role and significance of journalism has changed with electronic media, are there new rules that need to be considered?

adam

about 12 years ago

No expectation of freedom of speech on a website you do not own.

adam

about 12 years ago

And depending on your host provider's TOS, not even then.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago

Regarding the DNT's comments, it's been said that an idiot will hang out in a room full of intelligent people, but no intelligent person will hang out in a room full of idiots. Unfortunately, the scales tipped in the wrong direction a long time ago in the DNT's comments as it has in the comment sections of most of America's newspapers, which are every bit as bad.

Thomas

about 12 years ago

You have a very good point Barrett.  But are we just left to hope that anyone visiting Duluth and picking up an online version of the DNT and stumbling into the comment section, realizes that they are in the standard 'idiots room'?  I understand the 'idiot room' syndrome and it is quite prevalent I agree.  But can Duluth be any different?  Can the Big Little town do something to mobilize to puts its best foot forward in this space?  Golly, is there another online space that can organize a little resistance to ignorance?

What really put me over the edge was when one member of the 'idiots room' boasted of being able to manipulate the 'thumbs up-down' system to hide chosen remarks.

But like I said, I am new, you can chalk this up to newcomer ignorance and I can learn from it. Thanks.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago

Can the Big Little town do something to mobilize to puts its best foot forward in this space?

Are you asking if the majority readers of the DNT who are not idiots can influence the comment section? If that's what you mean, my answer is that I'm not sure. I say this as a person who has nine years of experience moderating PDD. Can you find another online newspaper whose comment section can be modeled? What are some positive ideas for change? I guarantee you that you can't model what we have here at PDD.

But I do understand what you are saying. Personally, I like to read the print version of the paper because it lacks a comment section.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago

I used to believe in the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory until I realized that throughout the history of PDD, the people who've caused the most problems have used their real names and made no attempt to hide their identities.

Thomas

about 12 years ago

No, I think the question might best be considered as 'do the smart folks of Duluth want to be proactive about reflecting the true nature of their town to those visiting the DNT site and possible coming away with a negative assumption?'

One thing about this media position is that it is free, takes little effort, and is kind of ripe for some good community organizing ... maybe.

Just wondering, I may have that newbie ignorance.

BadCat!

about 12 years ago

Before DNT started moderating their comments, there was a news article about some students from Iraq coming to CSS, the comments section was filled with horrible rascist uneducated comments. The potential students saw the comments and were about to back out of the deal (fearing that Duluth was a city populated with racist red-necks), but the college somehow managed to convince them that we only have a small population of ass-hats.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago

So Thomas, let me understand this. Are you saying that more rational people should start commenting under the DNT's stories to help balance things out? I'm just trying to spell out what we're actually talking about here.

Claire

about 12 years ago

Thomas, I think it's a losing battle. The DNT online comments section has some participants who seem to be on there 24/7, spewing their idiocy. You'd have to commit to giving up your real life to keep up with them. I wish newspapers would just  give up such online comments sections.

My beef with the DNT is that even though I am a print subscriber, I still have to pay to access old articles/archived articles online. I subscribe to the NY Times too and one of my perks is that I can read old articles/archived articles for free.

Thomas

about 12 years ago

Well, Bad Cat provides some history that I was not aware of but does illustrate my point.
And to answer Ms. Chase, I do see more opportunities in the world today for community organizing due to increased communication technology.

But I am also wondering if 'push back' is not as much an option from a MN Nice standpoint.  Is there an aversion to sticking up against something you find negative, so as to just avoid it?  I thought it interesting the Occupy folks did not seem to enlist a broader cross section of Duluth.  But maybe the method used just did not fit in culturally.
  
How did the CSS folks convince the Iraqi students?  And was it the truth?  Is there any way of really measuring?  I can't figure out how Mr. Ness can be unopposed for mayor in a place that elected Cravaack.  Will the real Duluth please stand up?

Claire

about 12 years ago

The 8th district encompasses a lot more voters than just Duluthians. Oberstar won in Duluth. If he'd carried the Iron Range as well, he'd still be our Congressman.

Ramos

about 12 years ago

Anyone with a library card can access DNT archives (and many other news archives) through the library's website for free. Click on Electronic Resources and go from there.

Tom

about 12 years ago

Ramos, thanks for pointing that out.  I was just going to say that myself after I read Claire's comment.

You can access the archives of the DNT, Strib, Pioneer Press, St. Cloud Times online just by having a library card. The DNT files go back to 1995, and I've successfully been able to go back and find articles I'm looking for that are 15+ years old. Of course, anything older than that and you're going to have to take a trip to the library. It's not quite the full experience (there's no photos and it's hard to imagine how the articles looked in print), but it's very helpful and easy to use nonetheless.

De man

about 12 years ago

If you have to log in every so often, it's probably because you cleared your cookies.

I enjoy the comment style of Reddit.com. Upvoting and downvoting (theoretically) moves the pertinent information up while moving the irrelevant stuff down towards the bottom of the page.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago

1. It's Mr. Chase, not Ms. Chase.

2. I still don't know exactly what you're talking about. I asked, "Are you saying that more rational people should start commenting under the DNT's stories to help balance things out?" and you answered, "I do see more opportunities in the world today for community organizing due to increased communication technology." I'd like you to be a little more concrete with your answer, or maybe you should run for public office.

De Man, the DNT's comments are partially based on the same concepts as Reddit's. There's a version of upvoting and downvoting, though the comments themselves stay stationary on the page. Comments with low scores are hidden.

agate1023

about 12 years ago

This may be quite off-topic from the original post, but since we are discussing commenting on news stories...

What do you folks think of some of the comments that appear on Facebook when a news story gets posted by the DNT? I find these comments to be even worse than some of the remarks that are made on the DNT Area Voices platform. And it's not just on DNT articles posted on Facebook, these comments appear on stories posted by other news outlets as well. 

Some of them are downright mean and mostly uncalled for. Perhaps even borderline illegal when considering gray areas of slander laws. I'd think that the media outlets would want to moderate them at least a little bit.

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