Miami Herald: Still Accepting News Tips But No Longer Cash Tips

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The Reflections of a Newsosaur blog (http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/) reports that The Miami Herald has abandoned its novel experiment begun last December of asking online readers for donations.

A cursory article in last Saturday's Herald acknowledged the end of the "tip jar" program, but offered no statistics on how much money the  program raised or any explanation about why the experiment was discontinued.  Herald Editor Anders Gyllenhaal reportedly sent an Email to Newsosaur saying the paper believed its request for donations from readers interfered with Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Apparently, the Herald fears its readers can't keep disasters separate in their minds.

For the past couple of months, at the bottom of each Herald Web page was a request for a voluntary donation, which stated in part: "If you value The Miami Herald's local news reporting and investigations, but prefer the convenience of the Internet, please consider a voluntary payment for the Web news that matters to you."

Not that the tireless staff of  "TUOL" is  cynical or anything, but The Miami Herald probably wouldn't have jettisoned the tip jar idea if the cash spigot were flowing, instead of dripping.