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The NY Times Archives Should be Free?
The Times, like all papers, is worth full value on the day it is printed. After that it's fishwrap. It depends on the market niche. Your fishwrap is another person's data buffet. Researchers use "the paper of record" and other newspaper archives for legal citations, competitive anad industry analysis, public policy analysis and formulation, medical research, etc. The value for these audiences is not news freshness. It is the search engine: the accumulation, the compendium, the correlation and relevance, the longitudinal view. And it is knowing that their source is known for journalistic quality and integrity. The publishers' problem is whether the segment of serious legal, corporate, and academic researchers can be offered one product at one price while offering the same archives to the public at large for free. Where is the money? Where is growth? Where are the self-reinforcing behaviors, the virtuous cycles?
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