re: #172 Lidane

True. The problem is that once you set up a mechanism where content is free, or where all that’s required is registration for access, turning around and charging a fee to get the exact same information doesn’t work.

If they’d gone with the WSJ model from the start, where some articles are free, but the more in-depth stuff costs money, the NYT might be in a better position to make a case for charging their online readers. Instead, they’ve had a free site for years and their one experiment at charging folks failed miserably because their readers refused to go along with it. I just don’t see how it’s going to work for them now.

The only way it can work is if most sites are also charging. WSJ works well because it is a niche publication instead of general news. But again, I think this will be standard in the future. If you want the news online, you are going to have to pay for it in someway. (I like the pay-per-click model. Charge people a very small amount per story they read instead of a monthly subscription rate. I think that can work.)