New York Times takes down pay wall

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The New York Times has ended charging for access to areas of its website - two years to the day since the launch of its subscription service.

From midnight tonight previously unavailable content, including 23 news and opinion columns, will become free for online readers.

Blogs, audio and visual content, news alert service News Tracker and web page storage system Times File, will also be opened up.

Archive access back to 1987, and between 1851 and 1922, will also be free. However, content from between 1923 and 1986 will still have to be purchased.

The outgoing subscription system, TimesSelect, through which 227,000 users currently pay $49.95 a year or $7.95 a month for online access, will be replaced by advertising revenue. American Express has been lined up as sponsor of the newly opened areas of the site.

A letter to readers on NYTimes.com, said the move was a response to a changing 'online landscape' and an attempt to increase page views and advertising revenue from readers who come to the Times' site through search engines, social networks and blogs, rather than coming directly to the website.

"TimesSelect brought new commentary and voices to the site, as well as an influx of subscription revenue. But the increasing dominance of search and other forms of referral have changed the equation," said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager of the website.

"Allowing unfettered, free access to our opinion content and recent archives should enable us to drive readership and advertising," she added.