Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The (Online) Education of the New York Times

I noticed something different when I opened the online Opinion Page of today's New York Times. It's been a couple of years since I've had access to the likes of columnists Frank Rick, Maureen Dowd, and Thomas Friedman, because the Times held them hostage to the Average Joe/Jane by imposing the nefarious "Times Select" embargo. "Times Select" was the not-so-brilliant idea that charged a fee - that's right! a fee! - for reading the paper's top opinionators.

When the pay-to-read toll was put in place, I said to meself, "Hm. Seems all that's going to do is cut down the readership of these top columnists, cuz who's gonna pay to read somebody else's opinion?" I figured that sooner or later, the Shining Stars would realize that their online audience had dissipated and would revolt. Anyway, you could find their opinions on other sites - most all of 'em are syndicated - so what was the point?

Seems that - as of today - the NYT has seen the light and discontinued "Times Select" fee-to-read. Welcome back, Maureen, Frank, Tom, and all! And as for you, NYT, I hope you've learned your lesson.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...

Anonymous said...

You know the NYT motto, don't 'ya?

"All the news that fits, we print."

Bro.

Em said...

YEA! I'm glad they finally got smart about this. I'm not opposed to a newspaper making money, but you were already paying through your subscription or your news stand purchase. Why would anyone pay again!

Anonymous said...

That Maureen Dowd is sooooo sexy! Smart too.