Will you pay to read The New York Times online?

The Gray Lady online

After I read in the Huffington Post that the New York Times editor had hinted about the newspaper charging once again for access to some of its online offerings, I asked my Twitter following a simple question:

Will you pay to read The New York Times online?

The response was unambiguous:
@Raz_Guz – No
@jhabig – Nope!
@StephenTiano – No. Not when there are other free new sources—papers and sites—online. Not to mention 24 hour cable.
@fridley – No. Nor will I pay to read the Australian Financial Review (though my company does) as the information is available elsewhere.
@digiphile – I *did* pay to read the @NYT online Ditto @WSJ. Micropayments from e-ink readers make some ‘cents’ to me.
@MegMcKenna – I didn’t before and my life went on. I won’t again. It’s not a strategy that will work.
@purplehayz – If I pay for paper, I should get electrons
@DogReader – Jim, history repeats. I remember paying previously to read parts of the NYT. Then the fee was not necessary. I was annoyed!
@jamesbressi – NYT online? Fail.
@billdinTO – I did, back in the paywall day. Suckah! :)
@LakeArrowhead – I wouldn’t read it if it were free

UPDATE: After blogging the initial responses Friday, I got the comments below and also these additional responses via Twitter:
@louseeyb nope
@mileless as a student? nope.
@raygank heck no! I’ll wait for someone to blog it!
@tbuser – Pay to read nytimes.com? I don’t even register, if I hit a link and they ask me to register, I close the window.
@AlanEggleston – Read The New York Times online? – http://tinyurl.com/bw2ugp (Depends on what other sources are still free.)
@Lucas_MG No. If the Times has a story big enough for me to care about, it’ll be all over TV and radio in the morning and AP later.
@miketobias God…no…but their level of journalism shouldn’t be watered down because they can’t afford it.
@DrivenIdealis Nope. Now, if they pay *me* to read it, then we’ll talk.

NOTE: I think many seem unaware that almost every news story that we email, IM, Twitter, post to blogs or social network profiles originate with mainstream media reporting, but these initial reactions remain valid and important to understanding the challenges to new economic models.

LINKS: There is plenty of open debate on this topic online, including TIME’s latest cover, “How to Save Your Newspaper,” and the Philadelphia Daily News’ Stu Bykofsky’s plea to post “No more free content!”