August 7, 2007 — The New York Times is poised to stop charging readers for online access to its Op-Ed columnists and other content, The Post has learned.
After much internal debate, Times executives - including publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. - made the decision to end the subscription-only TimesSelect service but have yet to make an official announcement, according to a source briefed on the matter.
(…)
While other online publications were abandoning subscriptions, the Times took the opposite approach in 2005 and began charging for access to well-known writers, including Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and Thomas L. Friedman.
The decision, which also walled off access to archives and other content, was controversial almost from the start, with some of the paper’s own columnists complaining that it limited their Web readership.
Of course, as Stephen Green wonders, will anyone want to read Maureen Dowd, even for free ?
August 8th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Free Maureen Dowd…
Bloggers are talking about the NYT ending its TimesSelect feature. The news isn’t official yet. Do we believe everything reported in the tabloid known as the New York Post?…