Say it ain’t so…
Chris Keating points out that the New York Times is inching closer to charging readers to view articles on its website. According to New York Magazine, the plan could be announced within the next few weeks.
The Times appears to be moving to a metered system:
After a year of sometimes fraught debate inside the paper, the choice for some time has been between a Wall Street Journal-type pay wall and the metered system adopted by the Financial Times, in which readers can sample a certain number of free articles before being asked to subscribe. The Times seems to have settled on the metered system.
Rumors continue to swirl that the Times and Apple are forging a partnership with Apple’s newest computer, the Tablet. The Tablet could launch as soon as January 27th.
It’s about time!
I’ve always said that newspapers can put the horse back in the barn by linking a hard-copy subscription with their web site. “If you subscribe, you get the web site for FREE!” Then, a newspaper could offer a “Green Subscription”, which would be just the web site, for a little less than a print subscription.
I think it would work!