Forum Moderators: not2easy
The New York Times announced today that it would offer a new subscription-based service on its Web site, charging users an annual fee to read its Op-Ed and news columnists, as the newspaper seeks ways to capitalize on the site's popularity.
Starting in September. Story here [nytimes.com...]
(free registration required)
"The advertising growth on the Web has been just spectacular the last few years," [the publisher] said. "But like any business, it's going to mature over time, and when that happens, it will flatten and then you'll get into the normal cycles just like we do it on print. And at that point you're really going to need to have another revenue model."
Bummer. They're a leader in the journalism world, which means others may follow.
Actually, its been going on already in other cities. Chicago Tribune and Crain's Chicago Business both charge to read content online, so its been here longer than you think!
The free ride ended a long time ago for many publications, and thats good, because now it means that the internet has become a LEGITIMATE media. And this means more jobs, more money and more fun for us webmaster-types.
Cheers,
Patrick
<scams free subscriptions whenever possible>
Seems they would realize people do not want to pay for online content. The advertising pays for it...
And we all know how people love advertising on the web. But there are ad blockers to handle that.
So let's see, folks don't want to pay subscription fees for online content, and they want ad blockers to get rid of the ads on sites.
That leaves who to pay for the content?
The faster widespread acceptance of paid access to quality online content gets here the better as far as I'm concerned.
If someone wants to give away free access to their content, that's fine, good for them and thanks.
Thinking we have a "right" to read that content for free is another thing.
