Soccer Dad

Ny times to blogosphere: drop dead

As I noted last week, it appears that the Washington Post, by teaming with Technorati, is actively courting bloggers. Now Washington Post articles have a "Who's blogging" box listing bloggers who have cited that article. It's like having a letter to the editor published on the very page you're commenting on.
The New York Times, on the other hand, appears to be discouraging bloggers. An announcement on the front page of the Times yesterday heralded the inauguration of a new "Times Select" plan. For $49.95 a month (or if you subscribe for home delivery) you will now get access to the op-ed columnists theTimes archives going back 25 years and some other perks. But we bloggers are a cheap species. We're never going to go after something that costs when there's plenty of material out there that's free.
(Of course, then again, there are those who see little point to criticizing the stable of NY Times op-ed columnists, as Powerline recently noted:

We never go after Maureen Dowd anymore, because there isn't any sport in it. Poor Paul Krugman is rapidly getting into the same category.

- via Instapundit. Or maybe it's on purpose. Given the relish with which many right leaning and centrist bloggers go after Dowd, Krugman, Herbert and Rich maybe the Times decided to protect them by charging for their services!)
Even though news stories won't be affected, I predict that the Times will see a drop off in blogger interest. And I wonder how the Times will handle an op-ed article that's cited by a blogger. Will a NY Times subscribing blogger be able to give his/her readers (limited) access to the full article or will he be limited to cutting and pasting?
Technorati Tags: blogging, New York Times

Posted by SoccerDad at September 14, 2005 4:36 AM