Dear New York Times, Please Step into the 21st Century

Dear New York Times,
I know you have great brand name, it carries an air of respectability in every advanced, literary, cultural or Westernized metropolis across the globe. Here’s the thing though, you just don’t seem to ‘get this internet stuff’. I know I’m not the first person to say this, and while I’d hope that I’ll be the last, I sincerely doubt it, but here it just the same, PLEASE REMOVE THE LOG IN SCREEN.

I know you think it great as it helps you gather data about you’re readers, and sounds really great on paper, but I can tell you in the real world, it’s just stupid. The web is all about open access, and your log-in screen is an 800 pound gorilla-like bouncer standing at the front door. I know you bought about.com because you think they are great at SEO, and you wanted to learn something (pressthink). They are an authority website with lots of content (whether it’s good or accurate is open for debate). Here’s the real key, anyone can deep link directly to anypage, without being forced to log in. Don’t go on about how it’s free or only takes a second, that may hold up in some mutually congratulatory corporate board room environment, but out on the mean streets of the information highway, you are slowly being sidelined for being irrelevant. Rick Bruner shows that collectively blogger gets more page views than the New York Times.

Business Blog Consulting

So why am I all fired up about what is old news? Well I read something this morning on Slashdot, about IMAX movie owners choosing the safe route and deciding not to show some controversial pro-science movies (Slashdot). The article links to … you guessed it … THE NEW YORK TIMES. So my one little bit of free link love wasn’t going to make a difference, but how many other people go through this same thing everyday, hundreds, thousands? It’s all about link trust. If I find it annoying or I think the people who read my blog will find it annoying … “no soup for you, come back next week”.

Yea it’s wild and messy down here in the trenches, it’s also fast moving and can change direction on a dime, which may not be well suited for top-down style management. However it’s like Nietzsche says “that which does not kill us makes us stronger”. So see the handwriting on the wall, adapt and overcome, or be faced with extinction.

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