Last Wednesday, Jan. 20, The New York Times Company announced that it will charge online readers for access to NYTimes.com.
"Starting in January 2011, a visitor toNYTimes.com will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge."
Many media analysts and scholars agree that it is time to figure our a new economic model of news business in the digital media ecology. It is known that 17 million readers a month in the U.S. visit NYTimes.com, but I am not sure how many of them would pay the online subscription fee.
However, what is clear is that the subscription-based, advertising-driven mode of the traditional media business is no longer effective and efficient.
We still have about one year ahead, but Are you ready to pay online news content?
I know personally I'm not. Internet has democratized news. While personal awareness is needed to know what news is reliable, information is now essentially free and instant. You can find information about the world with a click of a mouse whereas before to understand current events you would need to read the newspaper every morning or watch some TV network news. I think the NYTimes has the right idea about moving towards a more digital news outlet but they're going to have to find some other way to make money.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy reading the Grey Lady online on occasion. I occasionally read the front page, technology section and travel. With so much "free" news on the Web I don't really see myself paying for this service. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of change would not effect me too much. I do not read the NY Times ofter, and even if I were a loyal subscriber, it would not be difficult for me to move to another source that is free on the internet. The internet has allowed a new world of access to many different things. Credible news sources is one of them. If one could not afford to pay for the online access, they could very easily move on to the next free news site. I know I would...
ReplyDeleteI would pay for the New York Times and consider it an academic expense. The New York Times is an excellent resource that professors like.
ReplyDeleteI would only pay for the New York Times if I needed to for research purposes. My preferred method of getting the news is listening to KBEAR during my morning commute.
I agree with you, in not being sure if people are willing to pay a subscription fee for online things. That being said many people pay subscription fee's for a lot more ridiculous things than that, it's all based on value to the customer. Personally I try to pay as little bills as possible, so I subscribe to only things I highly want, so I would not subscribe. However, the model they are describing sounds like the best I have heard so far, as it would allow me to access to the NYTIMES the few times a month I get sent or access on their site. People who just view a few articles a month sent from friends and family will not lost their ability to read them, and the people who access NYTIMES everyday probably won't have much a problem paying the fee.
ReplyDeleteAs an occasional reader, I have to agree with those who say they would most likely move on to another "free" internet news source, rather than pay to read a "newspaper" on-line.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think that quality and personal preference would also determine whether or not I would pay for an on-line subscription. For instance, I would never subscribe to the Idaho State Journal, in order to have complete access to their site, no matter how inexpensive the subscription price. If the San Francisco Chronicle or Sacramento Bee charged for full access, I might consider either or both, since I am from northern California, and so have a vested interest.
I like print media. I like coming out of my house in the morning and grabbing the paper and reading it. I don't even turn my computer on really until I get home from school. I know that print media is on the way out perhaps and maybe someday the only way to get really good accurate will be to pay to get the news paper online. At least that is not the way it is now and I really hope it never is.
ReplyDeleteYa know, I totally see where NYT is coming from. Every business has to make money. They are a business that provides news for money. Since the technology transformed the business of news, NYT has to react. They obviously went online with their newspaper stories, but it looks like they are not making up in terms of revenue. For myself, now I'm trying to pretend I am an adult with a normal life, only one job, no school, no home work, and..... yes I would pay for an online subscription. However, my choice of subcription would be USA Today. It is my personal favorite newspaper. It fits my persona. But paying for an online news subscription seems completely reasonable. For god sakes, a medium skinny late is close to five dollars, which a large part of the American populations fits into their dailey budget! Paying for news should be no big deal :)
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