The Canadian whines that UFO readers are to blame.

With the biggest public whining fest I have seen in a while, on February 21st The Canadian announced in an article that they will no longer be reporting on UFO stories unless readers contribute $5,000 to the cause.

In another related article the The Canadian states that “UFO readers lack social responsibility” and blames them for the lack of funding for their continued reporting on UFO related stories. While I do agree that public funding for UFO research is important, publishing an online newspaper and then complaining to your readers how much they suck does not seem like a good strategy to stay operating.

The Canadian claims to have had over 1,000,000 page views for their UFO related stories, but have only received $11 in donations. Doesn’t sound like they are doing a very good job of running their advertising over there. Of course they turn right around and use guilt tactics and blackmail to get readers to donate to their site.

“If we do not get enough money at the end of the 17 days, we will assume that the readers are not willing to support our research. They are not even ready to spare a dollar or two. We no longer plan to cover UFO stories as we understand that people do not seem to be interested in reading this stories.”

What I have to say to that is OK, BYE! There are lots of UFO and paranormal sites on the web and from what I have seen The Canadian hasn’t done a better job than any of the rest at doing research and coming up with original stories. So why would anyone donate to them. Furthermore, I have to say from a purely aesthetics standpoint, their site sort of sucks.

To recap on my reaction to The Canadian’s boycott of UFO reporting

Good! Go away! While I agree that UFO research does need more funding, bitching and moaning to your readers and telling them you aren’t going to do any more stories unless they come up with some cash is child like. Get better ad managers, produce better content, redesign your site and learn how to monetize websites in the new era of journalism.

Generating revenue is your problem, not your readers!