Register? Pay? or Just Read? Newspaper Websites Debate

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 .