So, the online New York Times is going to be offering a subscription service. (Press Release) I am sometimes dubious of charging for content on websites, but in this case I like the idea. They are going to be keeping most of their existing news content for free, but offer extra services (advance content, archives, etc.) as part of the fee service.
For many years I received the print edition but recently canceled it as I was reading everything online. I felt bad about doing this as I wanted to support the New York Times as I think they do very good work. However it wasn’t worth nearly $300 a year. So this new option offers me a service for a reasonable cost ($50/year) with nice added features and allows me to support what I believe is a quality institution. I think they have struck a good balance between serving the public good and running a business.
I for one will be signing up.