Pen-Elayne on the Web

Behind Closed Doors

Finally, someone with something sensible to say about the NY Times' decision to make "the work of Op-Ed columnists... available only to TimesSelect subscribers beginning in September." I find myself in agreement with Tom Tomorrow regarding whether this renders the paper irrelevant when he says

they own the ball, the bat, the field and the bleachers, and if they decide to start charging us to enter, then we either pay or find a way to peek in through the fence (Times op-ed columns are usually syndicated out pretty quickly). But they don't become irrelevant because the slim minority of their readership which reaches them via the snarky commentary of bloggers such as your host can no longer do so.

I also want to note that op/ed columns, while perhaps a dime a dozen now that there are so many great blogger pundits out there, are still not in the realm of "public service" the way actual news reporting is. If the NYT started charging folks to read its news articles, I'd be pissed even though I could probably find the same news items elsewhere. It's the principle of the thing - news should be a public service. In olden days it was even considered a loss leader, certainly on TV and I would warrant in print as well. The stuff that makes money for the paper, the stuff they do that entices people to buy it, consists of things like comics and crossword puzzles and, yes, op/ed columns. None of those features are necessary to inform the reading public, so I can't get worked up if the paper wants to put them behind a $50 subscription firewall. Besides, I have too many opinionated blogs to read through! Now if you'll excuse me, I've fallen behind again...