The Old Grey Lady
Here is a very good Tom Friedman column. (registration, but no cash, required). After Sunday, the link will not work anymore, unless you pay. On Monday, Sept. 19, the Times is bringing in "TimesSelect," which it calls "a new service from The New York Times, providing exclusive online access to Op-Ed columnists, The Archive, Web tools and more." Basically, access to the op-eds and archived articles (which already cost money after a week or so) will cost $49.95 a year. Here are the details.
The internet has put newspapers in a hell of a quandry. They are now expected to post all of their content for free. If I lived in DC or New York, I would still subscribe to the Washington Post or the Times (because I am at heart a 20th Century person), but I would not HAVE to do so-- I could read the whole thing on the web.
The Times is trying a subscription model for PART of its content-- not all. It is interesting to see that they are roping off the op-eds-- conversely, the Wall Street Journal has roped off everything BUT the op-eds, which they publish on www.opinionjournal.com.
Unfortunately, when you switch to a subscription model you severely limit the influence of your content. Bloggers and other sites will need to stop linking to you. Non-paying (and probably non-like-thinking) readers will no longer read you. Your influence will decline and the ghettoization of ideas will worsen.
Not a lot of American institutions have suffered as much in the last ten years as the New York Times. Once the top dog of American journalism, its influence has been eroded considerably by the web and by Jayson Blair and a host of other scandals. I know they need to make money, but I think that this subscription plan will sink them even deeper.
The internet has put newspapers in a hell of a quandry. They are now expected to post all of their content for free. If I lived in DC or New York, I would still subscribe to the Washington Post or the Times (because I am at heart a 20th Century person), but I would not HAVE to do so-- I could read the whole thing on the web.
The Times is trying a subscription model for PART of its content-- not all. It is interesting to see that they are roping off the op-eds-- conversely, the Wall Street Journal has roped off everything BUT the op-eds, which they publish on www.opinionjournal.com.
Unfortunately, when you switch to a subscription model you severely limit the influence of your content. Bloggers and other sites will need to stop linking to you. Non-paying (and probably non-like-thinking) readers will no longer read you. Your influence will decline and the ghettoization of ideas will worsen.
Not a lot of American institutions have suffered as much in the last ten years as the New York Times. Once the top dog of American journalism, its influence has been eroded considerably by the web and by Jayson Blair and a host of other scandals. I know they need to make money, but I think that this subscription plan will sink them even deeper.
posted by Virginian | 10:10 AM
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