NY Times Makes All Online Content Free

Journalism faces a challenge, but hardly a disaster

(NEWSER) - We know it’s coming, that day when print newspapers cease to exist, but it won’t be this year, right? Maybe, maybe not, Michael Hirschorn writes in the Atlantic, and it wouldn’t necessarily be a disaster. The New York Times is in trouble—it could default on $400 million in debt come May. “Sooner than most of us think,” the Times will be digital-only, Hirschorn predicts. More»

Newspaper lays groundwork for reinstituting paywall

(NEWSER) - Two-plus years after making its entire website free, the New York Times is about to roll out a plan that will charge readers for online access. The announcement may come within 2 weeks, but the pay wall won't be in force for several months, New York magazine reports. Rather than charging for everything or for predetermined categories of content, the paper will use a "metered" system similar to the one the Financial Times employs, allowing free access to a certain number of articles before requiring payment. More»

Most won't have to pay, paper says

(NEWSER) - The New York Times’ long-expected paywall is due next month, and details are starting to leak out about the plan. Everyone will have limited free access to the site, sources tell the Wall Street Journal , but once users reach that limit, they'll have to pony up. Users can buy either a subscription to just the site, or a digital bundle that also includes the Times’ iPad app. Subscribers to the physical paper will have full access to the website. More»

(NEWSER) - Google CEO Eric Schmidt's proposed model for online newspapers calls for a cable TV-like approach to subscription content, with tiers like free, basic, and premium. His ideas not only come too late, but they're “deeply flawed,” Douglas A. McIntyre writes for 24/7 Wall Street. And "even if they were valuable, they come too late in the cycle of destruction that marks the end of the financial viability of newspapers." More»

(NEWSER) - Before newspapers held sway over politicians and maintained monopolies under federal anti-trust exemptions, they were a service people were willing to pay for, Michael Kinsley writes in the Washington Post. Even if “technology is on the verge of removing some traditionally vital organs of the body politic,” they will be replaced by what people want, and want to pay for. “If the New York Times disappears,” he says, “there will still be news.” More»