• by May 17, 2005

So finally, after at least a year of internal discussion that prompted months of speculation among media observers, The New York Times has made a decision to charge a subscription fee for access to its online archive, columnists, and selected content including multimedia reports.

Finally.

Whew. We can rest easy now that we know the newspaper's new subscription-based service for the NYTimes.com, TimesSelect, will charge users an annual fee of $49.95 a year for access to the paper's archives, as well as its Op-Ed and news columnists. Sneak peaks of selected content that will appear in the Sunday newspaper will also be offered. But the majority of the content on NYTimes.com will remain free. People receiving home delivery of the newspaper will get TimesSelect gratis.

The Times already charges for its crossword puzzle, news alerts, and online archive.

The subscription service launches in mid-September, so we all have a while to get used to the idea. In our opinion, access to the archives is certainly worth paying for and our idea of "premium" content, but we can't say the same about the columnists - as fabulous as they are. Sorry, MoDo and Friedman.

The subscription announcement comes as newspapers everywhere struggle to find new sources of revenue amid declining circulation and competition from other media. The Times' digital unit is a crown jewel, to be sure, and growing nicely. It surely represents the future of the New York Times Co.

The online advertising on the site is mostly a lesson in how to do it right. Even when we click on a headline and are taken to a full-screen ad, we are presented with the option of shutting it off with clear, unmistakable instructions. This is respectful of readers' time and desires. What's more, we have noticed improved navigation features such as the word "NEXT" (all caps), in a box at the bottom of each story. Clicking on the "NEXT" box takes us to the next page of the story. At the end of the story we are met with the box "PREVIOUS," which will take us back to the previous page of the story. These are effective tweaks.