Time for Newspapers to Charge for Online Content

Rupert Murdoch said last week that he thought that newspapers would have to begin charging for their content for economic survival.

Now isn't that a novel idea -- actually charging for your work!

The New York Times website is one of the most visited, quoted, linked to, and credible sites on the Internet. People all over the world seek out their content. And why not? For all of the bellyaching of the far right, the Times is still the "paper of record" in the United States.

And yet, The Times is losing money.

It's time for newspapers to adopt an economic model that makes sense. Just about nobody this side of Rush Limbaugh wants to see newspapers go the way of the dodo bird. If we need to pay a little for our newspaper content -- especially important papers like The Times -- then I say let's go for it!