It's official: ProJo = feh.

Look, I admit it: I have a lot of fun poking fun at the Providence Journal, but that’s only because it’s terrible. It misses stories other outlets in the state pick up (and in a state this small, that’s pretty much inexcusable), and half the time its journalism – if you can call it that – is inflammatory rhetoric intended only to provoke its army of crazy commenters. I mean, you can’t run the headline “Rep. David N. Cicilline, in danger of losing his seat in Congress, is running his campaign checkbook like there's no tomorrow” under a “NEWS” header. It’s someone’s opinion, complete with hyperbole. It’s news like Us Magazine is news. Also, the ProJo’s website has been obstinately holding onto its 1998-style website like it thought that style might come back around someday.* You know, the style people favored before the internet started to figure itself out: almost impossible to navigate, completely impossible to search, has ads everywhere, and leaves stories from ten months ago in sidebars to make them look like they’re fresh.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I clicked over to the ProJo site to see what, if anything, was going on (and something was!), and I found a clean and somewhat streamlined site that sort of makes sense, kind of! Even if it’s a little over-simplified, but whatever. Oh happy day! But what prompted the change? Was it a publication finally realizing that to serve its stated purpose to inform and educate its city’s citizens about what’s going on in their world, it had to do so in a way that was actually accessible and marginally cohesive?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha no. Of course not.

"Like other major newspapers across the country, we've come to the realization that giving away our content free is not a sound business plan," said Howard G. Sutton, publisher, president and chief executive officer of The Providence Journal. At first, the eEdition will be free to all web users, to allow them to see how it works. "People can experiment with it," Sutton said. After about a month, a paid subscription will be needed to view the eEdition. Those who subscribe to the printed newspaper seven days a week will receive access to the eEdition at no additional cost. Those with less-than-daily subscriptions will have to pay a nominal fee for the eEdition. Subscriptions only to the eEdition will also be offered.

So, to recap: reading the ProJo online will now cost money. Actual American money. Okay. That’s…. well, hold on. How much money are we talking about?

Pricing has not been set for any of those options. The Journal plans to offer an option to buy single copies of the eEdition, but is still working out technological issues, Sutton said.

Oh, for crying out... All right. You know, what, ProJo? You are fired. You are fired. You think you’re the only terrible paper in Rhode Island? Think again. Your headlines are barely better than this, and that’s in a paper that’s free (although sometimes I think they should pay me to read it). Good luck to you, ProJo, and may all your crazy commenters who’d rather die than pay for content find another outlet for their crazy craziness. 

* It won't.