Time Out
As no one has chosen to contribute toward a TimesSelect subscription, I’ll just carry on without the NYT columnists. Since I do believe in capitalism, I have no problem with the NYT trying to generate revenue from their Op-Ed page; I’ll simply choose not to pay for the premium service.
Jon Fine of Business Week Online questions the strategy on the grounds that “people will shell out for all sorts of media, but print isn’t one of them”. I’m skeptical as well, because it seems likely that the prestigious NYT columnists will lose their place in the national online conversation (e.g. WSJ and Salon). I’d be surprised if the family-owned NYT is really willing to trade influence for profits, once that becomes clear.
UPDATE (10:00 pm): In a comment to this post, Jon Garfunkel has offered to donate $25.
UPDATE (Wed, Sep 21): An anonymous reader has now donated the cost of TimesSelect, thanks! I’ll subscribe and catch up on columns as soon as I can.
