NEW YORK -- The New York Times will begin charging for online access to Op-Ed and news columnists beginning in September, bucking a trend in which newspapers have offered their content on the Web for free.
The annual $49.95 subscription to TimesSelect also comes with an early look at some articles, including those in the Real Estate, Travel and The New York Times Magazine sections, as well as access to the Times' online archives, for which the site now charges up to $2.95 for each article older than a week.
Most of the news, features and multimedia items will remain free, and home-delivery subscribers will automatically get TimesSelect without additional charge, the company said Monday.
Besides the archives, the Times already charges for crossword puzzles and an e-mail alert service for tracking specific issues or keywords. The e-mail alerts will come with the new TimesSelect subscription.
News sites have been struggling to reap revenues online for content they normally sell in print. Most sites are supported by advertising, but have avoided charging fees to read current articles. The Wall Street Journal is the exception among major news organizations, charging $39 a year for print subscribers and $79 for others.
The Los Angeles Times has retreated from charging readers and recently restored free access to its theater and other event listings for Southern California. -- "To use a vocabulary is to change it." [Robert Brandom]