First the WSJ, now the NYT...

The New York Times launches itself as a premium content site with TimesSelect, but what I like about this one is that you get it as part of your subscription to the print edition.

Critics will say "but the spirit of the medium is a la carte... why bundle?" I say that establishing yourself as a multi-dimensional information source is a good thing. You subscribe, you get all the web stuff free. You don't subscribe... well, stuff is gonna cost you.

In essence, this says that you subscribe to the New York Times experience. This is a good deal, too, because the NYT has positioned itself as a national paper. This is a big incentive to drop your local paper and pick up the Times as your daily.

As I've said before, the WSJ works pay-to-read online because it's a niche pub. The NYT might work online behind a limited pay wall because it's a national media brand.

But would anyone care if the Chicago Tribune offered the same deal? How about USA Today? The Charlotte Observer?

I don't think so.