There are already websites that have been able to make a for-pay model of content work, but they offer very specific and detailed information that wouldn’t otherwise be available through the mainstream media. In fact, its this mass appeal that the NYT has tried to cultivate that is directly in conflict with the model of paid content. Niche experts can get away with it in high value topics like finance or foreign strategy, but I can’t imagine enough people paying out for the NYT to make the switch to paid content worthwhile. Whatever they gain in subscriptions will just be lost in potential influence…
They are fighting history here. A business model based on creating artificial scarcity will not last long.
There are already websites that have been able to make a for-pay model of content work, but they offer very specific and detailed information that wouldn’t otherwise be available through the mainstream media. In fact, its this mass appeal that the NYT has tried to cultivate that is directly in conflict with the model of paid content. Niche experts can get away with it in high value topics like finance or foreign strategy, but I can’t imagine enough people paying out for the NYT to make the switch to paid content worthwhile. Whatever they gain in subscriptions will just be lost in potential influence…