The New York Times will begin charging for access to selected stories on its website from January, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The Journal quotes comments by Times executive editor Bill Keller to the Foreign Press Association during
The New York Times will begin charging for access to selected stories on its website from January, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The Journal quotes comments by Times executive editor Bill Keller to the Foreign Press Association during a Thursday night (US time) speech.
Previously, the Times has confirmed it will charge for content at some point in early 2011.
Mr Keller did not offer any additional information on his company’s paywall model or pricing yesterday.
But in earlier comments, chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr has said don’t pay will only be able to read a limited number of stories per month.
This so-called “metered” paywall approach - also followed by the Pearson-owned Financial Times in the UK - was chosen over a second seriously-considered alternative: a mix of paid and unpaid stories as per Rupert Murdoch’s The Wall Street Journal (or indeed NBR, which has defied skeptics to gain upward of 8000 paid online subscribers).
Some commentators remain dubious that the paid content approach - which has enjoyed degrees of success across various business sites, and specialist sites like Consumer.org.nz - will successfully translate for general news.
Five billion reasons
Before the recession, the forces of free held sway at The New York Times.
With around 20 million unique browsers, it had become the paper of record for the English speaking world, putting it in the plumb position once online advertising finally matured.
But with online advertising stalling and falling during the meltdown, Mr Sulzberger Jr has, apparently, veered more toward those who believe the web will never generate significant ad revenue according to a report in New York magazine.
Certainly, some kind of fix is required.
Despite building one of the world’s most popular sites, the family-controlled, publicly-listed New York Times Company has seen its market cap slip from around $US7 billion in 2002 to under $US1.3 billion today.
In most recent quarters, it has lost money, and it faces some still financial challenges ahead - including repaying a $US250 million loan it recently took from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim at a staggering 14%.
New York Times Company shares (NYSE: NYT) fell 2.87% today.
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