Media Shakedown: There go the good-old days…

There have been rumblings about it for years, but it looks like a major source of free quality news, The New York Times online edition, may be switched to a subscription-based model:

N.Y. Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was quoted in the article as saying: "It gets to the issue of how comfortable are we training a generation of readers to get quality information for free. That is troubling."

I’m not so troubled by that. I’m troubled about losing the ability to fix my news jones in a blitz of free online scanning-and-clicking on the Internet. But I understand if a publication’s gotta make a buck, even the Gray Lady.

Upsetting though.

We may look back on the good old days of wide-open and free communication on the Internet. Or could a development such as this accelerate the Age of the Blogger?