Search, (For a Fee) and Ye SHALL FIND — J/S Online Caches in on Archive
The search feature of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online edition underwent a big change Monday when it was converted to a paid service for delivery of articles over 14 days old. The Milwaukee media giant now has a bipartite search function. You can use the crummy old JS search engine to find articles from the past fortnight. If you want older results, you are switched over to a search engine operated by an outfit named NewsBank, Inc. the “world’s largest depository for hosted archives,” which provides this service to 500 U.S. newspapers, and thousands around the world. It is a privately-held outfit based in Naples, Florida, Milwaukee’s southernmost neighborhood.
The new policy coincides with a considerable expansion of the Journal Sentinel’s searchable archives, which now date to 1990 — way back when there was a Journal and a Sentinel. Prior to this week, searchers were directed to the Milwaukee Public Library to locate articles published prior to 1996. This was of little assistance, since the library did not index Journal Sentinel articles, which it maintained on bulky microfilm.
The new archival search engine, powered by NewsBank, allows for more variables than the regular search engine, which is being updated, according to Mark Young, the Managing Editor of Journal Interactive. “About time!” some would say, although it is unclear why the folks at 4th & State don’t simply add a Google search engine to their site (as this one has) and be done with it.
As far as revenue is concerned, Young says he has had no report thus far, it being only three days into the great experiment.
However, a price structure has been established, ranging from a single-article search for $2.95 to a robust “1,000 pack” at a discounted $1,995. Seven-day-a-week subscribers are able to access the archives for free.
Of course, the archives are only as good as the quality of the reporting in the paper. The search I highlighted above was for the name of a fellow who has pled guilty in Federal Court to defrauding a local company and the taxpayers of a southern city, in one of the largest scandals known in a scandal-prone town. Nothing turned up.
