All the News That's Fit to Charge

It was bound to happen: The New York Times indicates that, beginning in September, it will charge for online reading of many of its op-ed contributors.

Bad move. Andrew Sullivan explains why:

"I can understand the economics of this, as newspaper circulation declines. But I wonder if, in the long run, this is a wise move on their part. By sectioning off their op-ed columnists and best writers, they are cutting them off from the life-blood of today's political debate: the free blogosphere. Inevitably, fewer people will link to them; fewer will read them; their influence will wane faster than it has already. The blog is already becoming a rival to the dated op-ed column format as a means of communicating opinion journalism."