What Happens When You Hit The New York Times Paywall (SCREENSHOT)

The New York Times paywall officially went up at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, March 28.

Once you access your 20 articles per month, the following message pops up:

Thank you for visiting NYTimes.com

We hope you've enjoyed your 20 free articles this month.

As you may already know, we are now charging for unlimited access to our content. You can come back next month for another 20 free articles or choose unlimited access with a Digital Subscription and continue to enjoy the world's best journalism, anytime, anywhere and on any device. Subscribing is quick and easy.

TO KEEP READING, SIGN UP TODAY.

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Comments

[Tquin]

10:34 AM on 03/31/2011

The New York Times was designed for the upper 2% and I guess that is where it is going to stay. At least they can have more articles dedicated to the upper east side.

[bryanzth]

08:02 PM on 03/30/2011

See the thing is, they overcharged for the Paywall. They didn't even start a time when you could see what you read, what you should pay for and then used that info to make your decision. No, they just lobbed on the paywall at high pay, and to heck with the 98%ers.

Vinegar does not bring flies, but that's what we are according to the NYT bean counters. But that's what will really be left when the corpse is left after this, just a few buzzing flies.

BZ.

[murphysgirl]

02:29 PM on 03/31/2011

I agree. I saw a commercial the other day advertising one month for 99 cents, but I'm sure there's a catch..

[bryanzth]

07:59 PM on 03/30/2011

Look, I didn't read the whole NYT. Just checked out Science, DOW, Business, Technology, about 6 hits a day.

20 Articles a month, well, no that's neither my speed, and the price you pay AFTER the first 4 weeks would require me to stop sleeping to read all the articles.

NYT, please boil your head. The Bookmark is deleted.

BZ.

[bryanzth]

07:53 PM on 03/30/2011

It doesn't happen anymore. I don't have a bookmark in FireFox 4 for NYT anymore.

Al Jazeera, Russia Today, France 24, NHK English, BBC, Deutsch Welle, Euronews is my choice on both TV and the Internet.

NYT can peddle their paywall somewhere else, maybe to the 2%ers.

BZ.

[way2sunny]

07:28 PM on 03/30/2011

How do they keep track of the 20 free articles -- do you have to register before reading anything? If it's just cookies, well -- that's too easy to get around.

[bryanzth]

07:54 PM on 03/30/2011

I am too "insulted" to worry about it. And when I say I am insulted, no skin off my nose. Al Jazeera English, that's what.

BZ.

[murphysgirl]

02:26 PM on 03/31/2011

You have to log in before you can even read the articles, that's how they keep track..

[jde]

01:33 PM on 03/30/2011

WSJ, Variety... now NYT.

I will miss you.

[mgabrys]

12:25 PM on 03/30/2011

A strategy of brilliance only matched by those who drill holes in their boats to let the water out. Good luck and say hello to the fish for me.

[bryanzth]

07:55 PM on 03/30/2011

Amen, there! You made me laugh out loud!

I can see the 3 Stooges in their NYT dingy with the water drain tool.

BZ.

[canyuck]

12:19 PM on 03/30/2011

The UK Guardian is a good alternative - one of the first and best newspaper web sites. A quality news source less reticent to publish news embarrassing to the US (they told us that murder suspect in Pakistan was CIA when the NY Times wouldn't). And they are expanding their news operation in the US (based in NYC).

[hopeisalive]

08:28 AM on 03/30/2011

Looks like the freedom of the internet is becoming less free. Hope it isn't a sign of the future.

[jwredd]

09:04 AM on 03/30/2011

In this case it's not about the expense of using the internet itself, it's about a news"paper" struggling to stay alive. If nobody is going to buy their paper then they will need people to buy their online content.

[mgabrys]

12:23 PM on 03/30/2011

More like a newspaper that made some fantastically stupid real-estate gambles before the bubble burst and is now frantically trying to stay alive (a new high-rise? SURE derp-a-doo!). Hey look the LA Times is still free - NEAT! Garwsh - they just give away their news online - how DO they do IT?

(pssst - online ads and not spending your entire company into the dirt is a start)

[disconnekt]

03:07 AM on 03/30/2011

I've been an avid nytimes.com reader since the very beginning, but I don't intend to pay a subscription fee to be able to keep reading. The only online subscription I'm willing to pay is for Netflix streaming, and that's because I'm used to paying for movies. I'm not used to paying for online news—never did, never will.

[Azterix]

03:07 AM on 03/30/2011

In the past few years I used to subscribed to the NYT. I canceled the subscription because the papers were too awkward to read in public, and piling up at home--a pain in the arse to get rid off. Then, I used to buy it occasionally, including the Weekend Edition, to read leisurely at home. The same piling issue continued. To also reduce my carbon footprint, I started to read the Times on my laptop. That was a roller-coaster experience, especially with its Time Select--was glad of the phase out. But, the Times has always remained my primary/favorite/trustworthy news source. Alternatively, I read the Washington Post and others. Now, I got mixed feelings about paying or not, knowing what (news) goes around comes around from indefinite sources. I think I will...

[gala1]

03:03 AM on 03/30/2011

I hate to have to say it. We NEED to pay this. If we don't, it won't be long before there is no more NY Times. And think how awful that would really be.

I just wish since a lot of us are on very limited incomes as we've gotten older, that The Times had some deal with AARP for discounting with senior citizens. Regardless, I'd rather do without something else than lose on-line access to The Times. I lived for a while before computers in a place where it was impossible to get the paper ---and it was very, very grim.

I do think $15 monthly is allround a bit too steep, however . So many people have mentioned $10 that it almost seem like a commonly agreed psychological price point.
I could hit that 20 free hits point in one day and have spent a miserable day toeing it.

[maribelles]

01:13 PM on 04/09/2011

Do you really think the NYT is still the end all and be-all, with all the many, many , almost overwhelming news sources out there ? I don't, and surely not at 180$ a year. I already don't miss them.

[dragongal]

02:54 AM on 03/30/2011

I will consider paying when google start to charge fee for searches

[Azterix]

02:18 AM on 03/30/2011

NYT's site should have a counter for each article read. Thus, it would be great to have rollover articles.

[shoogie]

01:55 AM on 03/30/2011

Paywalls remind me of why lending libraries were created. A single newspaper serves a lot of patrons and those librarians know their stuff.