No Easy Pass to New York Times Website?

• Report this Comment On July 10, 2009, at 5:33 PM, RKatha wrote:

  I work for a company whose business model is being eaten alive by the global internet economy. We're knowledge workers suffering under executive leaders who have no clue how to address the problems facing the business, yet they continue to trust their business instincts and gamely fund desperate new solutions by slashing at the bottom line.

  Herein lies the future of the newspaper industry. At my company we need an underground newspaper. We are divided and without influence or shared awareness of executive decisionmaking.

  That's the future of the newspaper industry. Custom editions, custom newspapers that serve the interests of disadvantaged populations. Report to us the executive activities and decisions we should know about. Unite us, give us energy, and help us overcome the weight of our installed leadership and our broken culture. We will all subscribe.

• Report this Comment On July 10, 2009, at 5:34 PM, RKatha wrote:

  I work for a company whose business model is being eaten alive by the global internet economy. We're knowledge workers suffering under executive leaders who have no clue how to address the problems facing the business, yet they continue to trust their business instincts and gamely fund desperate new solutions by slashing at the bottom line.

  Herein lies the future of the newspaper industry. At my company we need an underground newspaper. We are divided and without influence or shared awareness of executive decisionmaking.

  That's the future of the newspaper industry. Custom editions, custom newspapers that serve the interests of disadvantaged populations. Report to us the executive activities and decisions we should know about. Unite us, give us energy, and help us overcome the weight of our installed leadership and our broken culture. We will all subscribe.

• Report this Comment On July 10, 2009, at 5:45 PM, SCWinehound wrote:

  For years, maybe decades now, I have been surprised that publishers (especially metro dailies) don't leverage their advertiser base by extending value-added incentives to their subscriber base. In other words, convert their subscription fees into membership fees and build a portfolio of member benefits that drive traffice to advertisers retail businesses. One need only look as far as AAA and AARP for successful precedents. People belong to Triple A not just because it gives them someone to call when the tire is flat on the buggy. It's because they get killer discounts on lodging, tickets to attractions, etc. Ditto AARP. But publishing's separation of church (journalism) and state (advertising and the filthy lucre of commerce) have made it very difficult for publishers to seize these types of model shifting initiatives. Maybe with their backs to the wall that will change, but if the NY Times is any indication, maybe not.

• Report this Comment On July 11, 2009, at 10:45 PM, lanzar wrote:

  I'm one of those throwbacks that actually subscribes to the paper edition of the New York Times. I read it over breakfast and on the subway on the way to work. Yes, I could buy one of a number of portable devices to read the online edition of the New York Times, or any other website for that matter, but for various reasons I prefer stuffing an actual newspaper into my briefcase on the way out the door. A home delivery subscription to the New York Times isn't inexpensive, either. Let's just say it costs more than $5 a month. So the New York Times is going to have to explain to me why I should pay for access to their website when I already pay to subscribe to their newspaper. To coin a phrase, that's double dipping. Not that I think it is a good idea for the New York Times to charge for website access [it isn't] but I do think that people who already subscribe should be treated as subscribers.

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