The New York Times Will Charge Online Readers; Good!

Well it’s happened. Finally. The New York Times is finally going to charge online readers:

Starting in early 2011, visitors toNYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the newspaper’s print edition will receive full access to the site without extra charge.

But executives of The New York Times Company said they could not yet answer fundamental questions about the plan, like how much it would cost or what the limit would be on free reading. They stressed that the amount of free access could change with time, in response to economic conditions and reader demand.

What does it say about me or many other people who got this news it came from The New York Times website? Irony! Maybe one day news of a major publication choosing a more costly business model (for its readers that is) or something like that will be reported on the Times website and I’ll have to pay 40 cents to read the article. Actually…that could happen very soon given the situation. And that’s okay. I can spare 40 cents even though I’m a dirt-poor college student because I read it often and value it. But not everyone values the Times as much as I do, and many of those people don’t read it as much as me, so they won’t have to pay. I liken that to free samples at a supermarket. Everyone can have a bite but to get the whole meal you have to pay. To me, this seems the same.

I’m actually surprised at how okay I am about this. After all, I’m a voracious news consumer with no money (which is really a curse), I should want all my news to be free! But as an aspiring journalist also, I want there to be places that will employ me one day and I want those places to produce a good product which is why a revenue model like this is necessary.

I don’t think the Times did anything wrong here. Two of its main competitors, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, already charge readers and people still read their websites which is why it’s dubious to me that tons of readers will flock elsewhere and the Times will sink faster. I’m pretty optimistic actually. I think the Times will rise with this pay plan.

–Daniel Strauss