NYTimes.com to Charge Frequent Visitors

Written by Pat's Papers | Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:36 AM

The New York Times announced today that starting in early 2011, it will implement a metered access concept on NYTimes.com. I’m glad to see the Times is taking the lead in finding a new business model for newspaper websites. And the plan seems like a relatively good one: Occasional readers will be able to view a few stories a month for free. Regular readers will be expected to pay a flat yearly fee and subscribers to the Times’ print edition will be rewarded with free online access.

That’s about all we know so far. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said in an interview: �This announcement allows us to begin the thought process that�s going to answer so many of the questions that we all care about.�

It will be at least a year before we get answers to the many apocalyptic questions swirling around the field of journalism. Presumably, the Times is hoping the long window it allowed itself will give competitors time to get on board with similar walls around their own content, because no matter how superior you think your product is, it’s tough to compete with free. Sulzberger admitted that he was worried readers might revolt if the system doesn’t work properly, or if it works too well: �We can�t get this halfway right or three-quarters of the way right. We have to get this really, really right.�

He’s right. The Times is going where few have successfully gone before. The Wall Street Journal made it work but may find it tougher to attract new readers if they can’t preview the product. And to me, the Times seems to forging a sensible path down the middle, a nice compromise between the current free-for-all sites and the wall that Cablevision built around Newsday.

But I have my reservations, the big one being the Times decision to build its own subscription system from scratch. By going the road alone instead of opting to use something like the collaborative pay system marketed by Steven Brill of Journalism Online, the Times is guaranteeing regular readers the inconvenience of dealing with yet another account name and password. The iTunes model that Brill advocates is something the Times, as well as the rest of the industry, needs to consider.

People get their news on the Internet because it’s easy. And it’s convenient. Two things it won’t be if every newspaper is hidden behind its own password.