Why the New York Times will soon be a brochure
In a roundup of every current media-wonk topic — the Olympics, YouTube, TiVo, and the Philadelphia Inquirer's boneheaded move to keep its hottest stories offline — David Carr of the New York Times has deftly buried a hint to his employer's Web strategy: "The horizon line for when a newspaper on the street is serving as a kind of brochure of a rich online product does not seem far off." Carr's not just speculating. He's alluding to a move already being made at the Times:
The Times's San Francisco-based technology editor, Damon Darlin, is recruiting for two positions to write stories on technology, some of which will only appear online. In print, the appetite for tech stories among the Times's stable of luxury advertisers is limited. Online, tech brands are begging for more Times-quality pageviews to advertise against. Two questions: First, how will that change the meaning of "All the news that's fit to print?" Second, will the Times be able to convince reporters that "online exclusive" reporting is no longer a second-tier career?