The New York Times has more readers of their on-line version than their print version, and they are not alone. Now, nearly a decade after newspapers began building and showcasing their Web sites, one of the most difficult questions in newspaper economics endures: should publishers charge for Web news, knowing that they may drive readers away?
Advertising of course is a deciding factor. Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said “My main concern is that, however we distribute our work, we have to generate the money to pay for it. The advertising model looks appealing now, but do we want our future to depend on that single source of revenue? What happens if advertising goes flat? What happens when somebody develops software to filter out advertising – TiVo for the Web?” More perplexing questions from today’s New York Times .
Website vs. Newspaper (and ads, too)
The New York Times Company should think a little deeper about the way that it’s readers and users approach the products.
I doubt I’m the only one that uses The New York Times (the newspaper) in a completely different way than I use http://www.nytimes.com (the website).
The newspaper gets bought, read through completely, marked up on the crossword page, and then discarded. It keeps my daily train ride company.
The website gets checked throughout the day, and is a source of headlines, ap/reuters feeds, and current weather.
My point is, though the two formats share content, they are completely different things, and get used differently. I would never check the website on the train, and I’d never read the paper straight through at work. I have a feeling that other users of other newpaper websites would have similar use patterns.
And as for Bill Keller’s question: “What happens when somebody develops software to filter out advertising – TiVo for the Web?” , someone should direct him to Firefox and the Adblock plugin – I’ve barely seen an ad on the NYT site since.