Today it was announced that The New York Times will start charging a premium for certain articles online starting in 2011. This is a process that they have tried and failed before. While details of what will be free and what won't, I'm positive that this will not be successful.
The greatest part of the Internet is that (almost) everything is free. If you want something more (usually a subscriber-based service,) you can pay for it. But outside of that, most content is free. It's a vast database of knowledge that can continually flood our minds with information.
By charging to view the content that was previously free, the NYT will be risking turning away their user base. The news will be available elsewhere. And for free. Maybe it won't be with the insight that the NYT provides, but it will still be the same general story. People are cheap - and even worse in "these financial times" that everyone cries about.
At the same time, I'm sure Times Co. is losing money from print and not making enough back. There's no right solution. Newspapers are an important source for our country, and losing them would be devastating. But there should be some other means to keep them afloat. I believe that charging will turn more readers away towards other outlets, rather than paying for content they can read for free elsewhere.
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