We all want free news. But newspapers want this funny thing they call a sustainable business model. The New York Times, after a failed experiment in asking people to pay for Thomas Friedman's consoling mustache, finally decided to go all in with a free site. For a paper with mass appeal, being free means more page views, which means more ad revenue. The Wall Street Journal has the luxury of banks and brokerage houses that will gladly pay for its exclusive analysis. But under Australian tyrant Rupert Murdoch, the Journal now wants a piece of that general audience too. And as the Journal introduces more politics and sports into their coverage, they're still wrestling with the paywall question, and Rupert's taking a surprisingly conservative path.

The WSJ.com has teased us before about letting down their paywall. They ultimately decided not to go completely free, but took down the wall on editorials, opinion pieces and video interviews in January. The paper is becoming more populist, with sports coverage and the WSJ., their new fluffy magazine that promises not to "disrespect rich people's respect for money." Of course, the Wall Street Journal doesn't have a monopoly on box scores or celebrity profiles. No reader would pay for the WSJ.com's reporting on the latest disappointing Knicks game when the same story is available for the free on the nytimes.com.

But the Journal remains hesitant to go completely free online, blaming the economy. With the subprime mortgage situation — honestly, I like using that phrase because it makes me sound smart, I'm not entirely sure what it means — and an advertising recession looming (according to pessimistic observers like our publisher), this may not be the best time for a massive newsgathering organization to transition entirely to an ad-based revenue model. Murdoch's playing it safer than the Grey Lady! Strange times.

Of course, TimesSelect failed in part because their columnists aren't worth paying for. But for financial institutions, the Wall Street Journal's business coverage is, at least for now. For the Times, it's unclear how long advertising alone will support online growth. One thing is for sure, though: even a tiered pay model can't last forever on the wsj.com either.

Changes ahead for Wall Street Journal [Guardian]
N.Y. Times CEO: Focused on Online Growth [AP]