New York Times to charge for articles online

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

NEW YORK - The New York Times said Wednesday it will charge readers for full access to its Web site starting in 2011, a risky move aimed at drawing more revenue online without driving away advertisers that want the biggest possible audience.

The potential pitfalls have made most other major newspapers hesitant to take a similar step. But after months of deliberation, the Times said Wednesday it will use a metered system, allowing free access to a certain number of articles and then charging users for additional content.

The Times did not disclose how many articles will be available for free and what it will charge to read more. Subscribers to the printed version of the Times would still have free access to the Web site.

It would not be the first time the newspaper has tried to charge for its online articles.

It charged for its Web site in 1996 but attracted only about 4,000 subscribers. Another experiment called Times Select, which required a $50 annual subscription to read Times columnists, drew 221,000 customers but was scrapped in 2007 because it dented ad sales. Advertisers generally pay more for higher Web traffic.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34953721/ns/business-media_biz/

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My prediction will be that this will again be a massive fail. I feel for the newspaper industry, they are in one helluva of a financial predicament.

[tonysam]

1. You better pray for the continuation of dead tree papers

for if they no longer exist, you WILL pay subscriptions to major papers online. NONE of this is "free."

Blogs don't cut it as legitimate news sources; besides, most of their content is taken from the traditional media.

Lose traditional media, and the blogs don't exist. Lose any media, and access to information will be only for the rich.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Correct. nt

[RamboLiberal]

5. I can pray but with the upcoming generation

dead tree papers will be outmoded. And few will be willing to pay for content on the net or via smart devices.

[frazzled]

8. And the result of all that will be: you will have no content

If that's what you want, knock yourself out.

[RamboLiberal]

10. Hey why blame me?

I'm not made out of money here. I already spend $140 a year subscribing to my local dead-tree paper and that doesn't even give me access to their special section. And their local political/news coverage sucks big time! I get more news from local bloggers who take the time to cover the politicos. Add $1200 a year to the cable company mostly to watch MSNBC & CNN. How the hell can I afford to pay the NY Times, then perhaps the Washington Post? Forget Murdoch & Faux - they'd have to pay me to read their sites.

If the newspapers go the way of the horse-drawn buggy it's their geniuses that have to figure out a new business model.

[frazzled]

19. You pay $1200 a year to the useless cable companies?

Well, that says a lot. I don't know what the Times is planning to charge for access to content, but it sure won't be anywhere close to that range.

We decided not to have cable anymore, and dropped it when we bought our condo 5 years ago. There was just really nothing we couldn't live without. Then after a year or so our condo association decided to buy a bulk package for the building, adding the fee to our monthly assessment. So we had no choice but to get it back. We pay $27 a month for DirectTV with 140 or so useless stations.

I'd say, cut your cable bill down to the essentials and use some of the savings to support sending journalists to the far corners of the world to bring back information we will never get on CNN or elsewhere.

[RamboLiberal]

23. Don't tell me to cut my cable bill - good for you

but I still like to watch MSNBC, CNN & some entertainment shows real time. I doubt if my subscribing to NY Times and any other old line tree killer journalism outlets will inspire them to restore their overseas bureau. Hell, NY Times & W Post were among those that enabled the Bush & Cheney to take this country to war in Iraq.

Gee maybe I should cut my internet access as well - after all that costs me about $50 a month and there are days I wonder why I waste my money arguing on DU. :evilgrin:

[MilesColtrane]

20. Let's see what the Apple business model is going to be, when they release their tablet.

If it's a small subscription fee through iTunes for many different sources (the NY Times, Hulu, Murdoch's rags: the New York Post, the Sun and the Times, Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, maybe some HBO content, etc...) people might go for it.

[Romulox]

14. Pray away. It's over for physical papers (and good riddance)

NYT is precisely the sort of voice that has lost/is losing relevance in the new media market, and I, for one, am cheering that fact.

The mouthpiece of the NE elite isn't my idea of national treasure.

[KamaAina]

22. How exactly am I supposed to subscribe to every paper in the land?

That's one of the great things about the intertubes: the ability to get local news from pretty much anywhere.

Maybe various papers (ceratinly those in a large group like Gannett) could have a sort of reciprocal arrangement.

[RamboLiberal]

25. That's my point

Everyday I regularly visit these newspaper sites.

Anchorage - blame Palin
Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles Times
New York Times
New York Daily News
Philadelphia Papers
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Local for me)
San Francisco Gate
USA Today
Washington Post

& a list of other papers bookmarked if story breaking there

Also
ABC News
CBS News
CNN News
MSNBC News

If they charged a fee I'd opt out.

And I bet like a lot of internet users I ignore the ads. But then for the most part I ignore ads in my local hard copy paper & on TV. What gets me to consider buying something is to see it mentioned in a story or a review of something I'd like to try. Or email me a coupon or a royalty program via email.

[NashVegas]

26. Why Exactly Do You Think You're Entitled To Freely Read Every Newspaper in the Land?

To put it as narrowly as possible, perhaps because your ISP convinced you it's your right.

[KamaAina]

28. That is why I suggested the reciprocity model

subscribe to your hometown paper, get access to others in the same chain or in some sort of alliance.

[RamboLiberal]

32. IMHO that's the only business model that is going to work

I would pay for a consortium subscription - but just to perhaps read an article or 2 a day or a columnist paying each news source - no can do.

Hey, they are the ones that set the model that got all of us hooked on free content.

The model I'd use is make the person accessing the article sit through a brief ad (perhaps that user can pick) then deliver the article. Or if you want to skip the ad pay a subscription.

[Romulox]

31. It's the business model adopted by the industry. Gimmeabreak.

You might as well hold a mirror up to your argument: you are not entitled to revenue for your "reporting"--make it relevant to my life or you won't even get a click, let alone a subscription fee.

(I have no idea if you, Nash, are a reporter; my comment is directed at the NYT.)

[RamboLiberal]

33. And who the hell set the expectation for the last 10+ years?

The news industry who were so hot to have an internet presence they gave their content away for free. They started the expectation and if they try now to make people pay - especially in this down economy they will not get subscribers IMHO.

[toopers]

2. Bye Bye NYT . . .

eom

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. Their business model is defunct

And th is new one is simply the desperation of a dying company. Perhaps the entire "industry" is dying.

[belpejic]

6. It will fail

All it will take is one other big news org to rush in and make a claim on the Times' free Web site traffic. And someone will. The newspaper industry has to go through a lot more consolidation before a sustainable business model emerges. Personally I hope the NYT survives, despite the fact that it has done so much editorially to alienate its core audience, but we'll probably see a business model emerge where researched, vetted and edited local news takes a major hit. That's too bad. I really hope Murdoch loses at the end of all this--content from his companies on average, in my opinion, is the least valuable of all. Only a few degrees of separation exist between an article in the New York Post and a blog post, for example.

[frazzled]

7. I pay for the NYT (paper version) so that you guys can read it for free

Grow up and realize that content, be it newspapers, movies, or music, does not come free. (Neither does health care. ) You've got to pay for this stuff in some way, or it disappears.

I love the many who criticize the Times and its business model, but who post articles from it daily.

[RamboLiberal]

12. Well good for you but some of us don't have the dollars

for every day living to splurge on buying news. I pay for my local paper and I sure can't afford to pay for more news sources. I've considered dropping my local paper because its content sucks as far as local political & news coverage. Its mostly a compilation of national stories.

[frazzled]

17. I'm not asking you to get a subscription

It's expensive for us, too: even though we get the educator's discount (I think it's about $70 a quarter, or $280 a year), and my husband, who is in the arts and needs it for the daily arts coverage, can use it as deduction on taxes, since it is work related.

And I'll be happy to share interesting content we find with everyone who can't afford to pay the online fees. But there are a lot of people who can afford it, and just expect that it will continue to exist for the taking. It won't. It will die.

I agree with you about the local papers. We get the Chicago Tribune, but honestly, I hardly even read it anymore. I do the sudoku.

[NashVegas]

27. You Are Not Entitled to Free Content

You choose and you decide what's important to you.

The days of free information so you can get online and look like you might know what you're talking about are coming to an end.

[RamboLiberal]

35. And newspapers are coming to an end

Charging for online content won't save them. In fact it may speed their demise.

[boomerbust]

9. Good luck with that

I need to spend my money for an extra loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter to get me through the month.

[KansDem]

11. Wow!!! You mean the next time there's a mad dash to invade a country for no reason...

...led by a newspaper reporter who bases her stories on a shadowy figure who had not been living in that country for decades and whose information was false all along, we'll have to pay to read about it?

Wow!!!

[Romulox]

13. TimeSelect ended my habit of going to NYT.com. Never got it back.

Won't be missed. The paper is MASSIVELY overrated, and 80% of its content is of parochial interest (e.g. theater, restaurant reviews.)

[closeupready]

18. +1 - TimesSelect was the dumbest move ever. They overestimate their importance.

Shocker, not, I know. In my humble opinion, this will fail, and the paper will, too, at least in terms of being bought out by Murdoch or some other corporate concern. Happened to the WSJ. Will happen there, too.

[frazzled]

21. Well, here's a few stories you won't find on the blogs today

(unless they are linking to the Times' reporting):

China to Slow Lending Amid Bubble Worries
By BETTINA WASSENER 31 minutes ago
The Chinese authorities signaled that bank lending would slow significantly this year and reportedly instructed some banks to curb loans.

Gates, in India, Warns of Regional Militant Threat
By ELISABETH BUMILLER 10:57 AM ET
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned that a “syndicate of terrorist operators” on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border was working to destabilize the region.

BANDUNG JOURNAL
Arrests for a Revealing Dance Pit Flesh Against Faith
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
The arrest of four women for “sexy dancing” has raised worries that it may be the prelude to the imposition of wider restrictions in Indonesia.

Russia Seeks to Cleanse Its Palate of U.S. Chicken
By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ
The government has imposed an open-ended ban on imports of American chicken, which was given as food aid in the 1990s and became a symbol of the nation's humiliation.
NEWS ANALYSIS

A Sign of Latin America’s Fading Polarization
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
The election of a right-wing billionaire to lead Chile appears to signal a convergence of left and right agendas.

Vietnam Jails 4 Activists 30 minutes ago
8 Arrested in Firebombing of Malaysian Churches 3:11 AM ET
Philippines Panel Clears Election Bid by Former President 10:09 AM ET
Issues Stand Before Israel in Joining Elite Group
China Curtails Run of ‘Avatar’ as It Fills Theaters
Christian-Muslim Mayhem in Nigeria Kills Dozens
Guinea Junta Picks Opponent as Premier on Path to Civilian Control
Ex-Convicts From U.S. Said to Join Yemen Radicals
Le Monde Appoints First Woman as Top Editor
Bulgarian Drops Candidacy for European Commission
Under Cloud of Violence, Malaysian Christians Come Together
Google Delays Release of Cellphones in China
India: A U.S. Promise on Afghanistan
Pakistan: Suspected Drone Strike Kills 5
Afghanistan: U.N. Counts Cost of Bribes
Somalia: 63,000 Displaced by Fighting
Russia: Ukraine to Get Ambassador
Vatican: Document Looks at Middle East
Britain: Rules Aimed at Binge Drinking
Military Suppliers Arrested in Sting
In Europe, Steps to Cracking Down on Tax Evasion
Google Hopes to Retain Business Unit in China
Evidence Found for Chinese Attack on Google

[Romulox]

29. Not so...

The first story, for example, is reported in numerous organs. It's unclear why the NYT would be in a superior position to report news from China, at any rate. Certainly the paper hasn't forged a reputation as one with superlative foreign correspondents. :shrug:

http://news.google.com/news?q=China%20to%20Slow%20Lending%20Amid%20Bubble%20Worries&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn

[RamboLiberal]

24. Yeah - I was one of the suckers who subscibed to Times Select

Cause I was hooked on reading Krugman, Herbert & Rich. In long run it wasn't worth it.

[benld74]

15. Soon to be on FAIL.ORG in 3,2,,,

[Dover]

16. What's dying is the traditional relationship between advertising and the media.

That relationship is breaking down in all areas of the media (t.v., radio, newspapers). And new ways to avoid advertising are being invented all the time. Also, while pre-digital generations who grew up with the old models might be willing to pay for content, the newer generation grew up with a 'free' media, for the most part. Only 'free' is not sustainable without revenue coming from somewhere. So even new digital businesses like YouTube must solve that issue or die. An interesting and humourous book on this whole mess is The Chaos Scenario - http://thechaosscenario.net/blog/ (the first few chapters are available online).

However, people ARE willing to pay large monthly fees for cable/satellite while 'free' television/radio are on the wain.

Some journalists are following the non-profit model for raising revenue such as this group -

http://www.texastribune.org /

The Trib is offering all of its content as a “free syndication service” to print and broadcast media throughout Texas, as long as it’s credited to Texas Tribune. The reception of this offer, especially among the larger newspapers, has been cautious, Smith says, but has been welcomed by smaller papers without a statehouse staff of their own. The Waco Tribune-Herald has already published some Tribune content, according to Smith. Texas media will also be able to offer their readers access to Texas Tribune databases via apps they can embed on their sites.


I don't know if that model would work for large papers like the NYT. Nor is it clear how major news agencies like Reuters and AP, who provide content to these papers and other media sources, will survive if their buyers dwindle. But the well is running dry or running on empty already.

[superconnected]

30. They should have only charged for the ads. I don't think this will work.

[Not Me]

34. Get out your library card...

Few people realize the online resources available through their public libraries.
With their card number and PIN, library patrons can often have full access to resources that carry individual subscription fees.
Publications like Wall Street Journal, NYTimes full scanned page edition, Consumer Reports, etc. are all available to you.

Stop by and ask your local library staff what they offer.

[RamboLiberal]

36. I think some are - but libraries need to be online

Most of us don't have the time to go to a bricks n' mortars library.