Bye Bye MoDowd ... and Friedman and Kristof ...
The New York Times is apparently going to go through with its threat to charge for access to its op/ed columnists, as Joe Gandelman reports over at The Moderate Voice. Starting Monday, users will have to pay an annual $49.95 fee to read Tom Friedman, Frank Rich, David Brooks, Bob Herbert, Maureen Dowd and all the rest.
I'll join Joe and all the other bloggers who do not plan to subscribe to "TimesSelect." Of course I'd like to still be able to read and pass along the views of some of the Times columnists ... my offer from when the plan was first announced back in May still stands.
posted by JBD @ 8:56 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Here is my letter to the NYT President:
"Dear Sir.
I am very sorry to hear that your fine columnists' work, Dowd, Friedman, et al, will now be available online only via subscription. I hope the effect of this will not be counterproductive. If many bloggers like me decide to decline, think of all the exposure your talented stable will lose, as we link to their columns.
Is money the only rationale?. Perhaps you are intentionally trying to limit their exposure to only the most "appropriate" readers, those with money. For a cherished liberal newspaper to make such a miscalculation is a mistake, in my opinion.
Now, more than ever, our nation needs your best voices speaking out. These are perilous times. Surely your family-owned business will not cut off profoundly important dialogue at this crossroads. There are other things besides the bottom line.
From a lonely Blue Voice, in a big ole' Red State.
Sincerely yours, Carol Gee"
When the Baltimore Sun quit carrying the Times' columnists because NYT would only sell them as part of an expensive newswire package, I quit reading the Sun's opinion page. Now I have to rely on hand-me down links. I hear Friedman gets $75 a seat at his lectures.
Are thes guys(and gals,Maureen)rock stars and I missed the memo? It just seems weird to charge admission if you sincerely want to affect public policy rather than just milk the expense account of wonks.
$50 a year is too much for anything online. A Time magazine subscription is less than that and they go to the trouble of growing the trees for me.
I agree with you both. This seems like a really stupid move on the Times' part - I don't get it at all. I hope that most of us bloggers just refuse to pay any attention to them anymore; if they stop getting attention and readers, this won't last long.
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