A participant in a survey on The New York Times aimed at gauging willingness by consumers to pay for newspaper content online has leaked details from the survey to the Gawker Web site last week. If true, this tip presents more details than we’ve heard to date about The Times’ plans to charge.
Although Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty responded to the Gawker article, writing “It’s very early in the process…we are still in the data collection phase,” here’s what was leaked:
There will be two premium packages: NYT Gold for $150/year and NYT Silver for $50.
NYT Silver: Get the “story behind the story” – videos from Times journalists; access to some stories before they appear elsewhere online or in print; TimesMachine – digital images of the paper back to 1851 (including ads); and a real time push of headlines via TimesWire. There’s also a free subscription to the crossword puzzle, 25 percent discount on items in the Times online store, and even a free tote bag.
NYT Gold: all of the above plus TimesEvents – in person get togethers with Times staff and TimesInsider – direct chats with Times staff and even tours of the newsroom.
Gawker has screen shots from the survey.
