I do not understand what NYT thinks it is doing. It needs to simultaneously remain entrenched in an information system that is no longer viable because of its reputation while exporting itself to a new information system where that reputation is largely viewed as "resting on its laurels" when its laurels have long since dried up and become caked with dust. I think that they don't get it. The days of putting the columnist over the subscriber are gone. Columnists should at least be moderating the discussions appended to the bottom of their article-cum-weblog-posts. That is the setting of the new social discourse. Not the office. Not the bar. And probably not school. But they refuse the discourse because for it to make sense to them they are supposed to be above the fracas. Fourth estate and all that. And that shit isn't going to work any more. There are millions if not billions of photos taken and shared everyday. There are people writing about news and local current events for free. And they get traction. Those days where the model of the NYT making money are just gone.
I largely agree. What the NYT needs to do is pretty much not be the NYT anymore. However, given that most of the interested parties there probably cannot agree upon that, let alone make it happen, things will probably get much worse for them before they get better. Although Hubski isn't on anyone's radar, authors have actually been quite receptive to jump in here when we point out that a discussion about their work is going on. That suggests to me that there is an alternate journalist/reader relationship that isn't being addressed.
As a weekday NYT subscriber I like what the paper delivers. I like some offline news stimulation. Absorbing current events one page at a time is very different from getting link baited by the sidebar. I like the pace, I like that it's not as self curated. I have an automatic online subscription but I rarely use it.
When I vacation at my grandmother's cottage in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I read the Mining Gazette most days. It's nowhere near the quality of the NYT, but it is enjoyable to hold a paper and drink coffee. On a related note, I have a Kindle, but I am finding myself losing the motivation to read on it. I like the physical experience, and I want the book when I am done. I don't feel like having it in my Kindle account means that I have it. I can't loan it to a friend. But newspapers are going to change. Hopefully we can end up with something similarly satisfying.