The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight Tuesday night, reflecting a growing view in the industry that subscription fees cannot outweigh the potential ad revenue from increased traffic on a free site.
As has been obvious from the start (I'd link to what I wrote back then if I could find it), the firewall put up by the TimeSelect program, blocking its opinion writers from view, is a disaster. The thing the Times provides that has real value--you know, news--has been free. But the thing that can be gotten a thousand times over elsewhere on the internet they decided to hide.
Even before the Times blocked its editorials from site, their stable of writers had seemed more one-sided and shrill than ever, but I'd still check in occasionally. Once TimeSelect started, I realized I could get along quite well without them. Now that I'm in the habit, I'm not sure I'll ever return.
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