Miami Herald Now Asking for Donations

And he'd probably be on to something, considering Miami gives about $40 million to panhandlers each year.

So now your Miami Herald is politely asking for donations for online content. Poynter Online noticed a new link at the bottom of Herald web stories asking for donations. It takes you to a form stating, "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."

Newspapers for years have been struggling to find ways to get consumers to pay for online content, largely unsuccessfully. The Herald already takes many articles offline after about two weeks and then charges for access to its archives and offers a digital version of the paper for $1.99 a month. Thankfully, the Herald hasn't charged for current news and tells NBCMiami there's no plans to start.