- Times Select -

Well, the marketplace came to Times' op-ed page today. Yes, the news is still "free," but you pay for access to their pundits and some news analysis articles. It's weird, no, that we're apparently invested more in personality (i.e., the pundit) than the reporting of the news. At least that's what the Times believes—and I have no reason to doubt it.

This move to opinion by subscription may well prove that opinion is more valuable when it is allowed to circulate freely. Or, on the contrary, it may prove that opinion is freer when it is not directly underwritten by advertising. In any case it should be fascinating to see how this plays out.

Me, since I have access through LexisNexis, I'm not subscribing—at least not yet.