Maureen Dowd

How Much Will You Pay To Read Your News Online?

Peter Kafka in Media on June 3, 2009 at 10:53 am PT

After years of training people to expect that whatever you can find on the Web will be free, media companies are trying — desperately — to reverse the trend, and figure out how to get people to pay up. Or at least some of the people, some of the time, for some stuff. This assumes that there’s unique stuff that people are willing to pay for, and I don’t know about that thesis. But if it does pan out, the guys behind Journalism Online want to handle the backend.

Meet Maureen Dowd’s Favorite Writer: Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall

Peter Kafka in Media on May 18, 2009 at 7:05 am PT

Many of you are just hearing Josh Marshall’s name for the first time, following the New York Times’s admission that columnist Maureen Dowd “failed to attribute” some of her column to him. But that’s a shame because Marshall’s site is noteworthy on its own merits: It’s a self-funded, profitable new-media site that does both blogging/aggregation and real reporting.

New York Times Online Payment Plan Coming Soon?

Peter Kafka in Media on May 15, 2009 at 8:05 am PT

The New York Times has already tried charging people to read part of its Web site. Now, like everyone else in the publishing business, it’s trying to figure out how to charge for online access again. The Times is reportedly mulling two options: A Financial Times-style “metered” approach and a Salon/NPR/PBS version whereby everyone gets free access to the site, but subscribers/donors get bonus goodies.

Twitter Scandal! New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd Tweets Against Her Will!

Peter Kafka in Media on April 22, 2009 at 7:18 am PT

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd says she’d rather be tortured than use Twitter. Good to know–especially if you’re one of the 5,000 people following her Twitter account.