The New York Times Introduces TimesSelect University; Program Offers College Students and Faculty Special Access to TimesSelect

Business Wire,  Jan 24, 2006  

Tags: New York Times Co.

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NEW YORK -- The New York Times introduced today TimesSelect University, a special offer for college and university students and faculty that allows them to subscribe to TimesSelect for one year at $24.95, half the regular annual subscription fee of $49.95. TimesSelect University will only be available to current students and faculty.

TimesSelect, which was launched in September 2005 and now has more than 390,000 subscribers, offers exclusive online access to 22 columnists of The Times and the International Herald Tribune (IHT) as well as an array of services, including access to The Times's archives, advance previews of various sections and tools for tracking and storing news and information. TimesSelect is free to subscribers to The Times and the IHT.

In addition to offering a discounted rate to individual college and university subscribers, TimesSelect University enables students and faculty who receive The Times as part of their college readership programs to activate their subscriptions to TimesSelect at no cost.

"This is a terrific opportunity for everyone in the college community," said Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president, digital operations, The New York Times Company. "TimesSelect is an ideal research and information tool and we are very happy to expand its availability on colleges and universities."

"Through TimesSelect University, students and their professors will discover an interactive treasure trove of information, analysis and opinion," said Scott Heekin-Canedy, president, The New York Times. "The Times is glad to offer this resource to students and faculty members, continuing our tradition of support for the academic community."

TimesSelect features that may have special resonance with students include:

--The New York Times Archive: access to The Times's extensive archives, initially dating back to 1981 and eventually to 1851

--News Tracker: enables subscribers to create up to 20 customized news alerts based on their topics of interest, providing a valuable research tool

--Times File: allows subscribers to select specific Times articles or Web pages and store them online in individualized databases

--The Columnists: Access to The Times's most prominent columnists, including Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman, and Frank Rich. Subscribers can post comments online in response to the columnists' writings and, in many cases, see replies from the columnists posted in turn. TimesSelect also offers an array of multimedia and special features with the columnists, such as Nicholas D. Kristof's "On the Ground," featuring filings with text, audio and video from his reporting trips around the world.

--Ted Koppel, guest columnist: TimesSelect features various guest columnists who are writing for the Op-Ed page. As announced by The Times on January 12, Ted Koppel will join The Times as a contributing Op-Ed page columnist beginning January 29. In addition to writing his periodic columns, Mr. Koppel will also offer special features through TimesSelect, including online conversations with other columnists.

--Sarah Vowell, guest columnist: In February, Sarah Vowell will serve as a guest Op-Ed columnist, with columns appearing both in the paper and on TimesSelect. Author, critic and journalist, Ms. Vowell is also well known for her monologues and documentaries for public radio's "This American Life." She is a former columnist for Time, Salon.com and San Francisco Weekly.

--The Opinionator: This blog, which begins this week, will be a guide to newsworthy and interesting opinions coming from daily newspapers, magazines and Web sites, primarily in the United States. Written by Chris Suellentrop, The Opinionator will be updated daily.

--TimesSelect-Only Columnists: Some columnists can only be read online, including five bloggers from Iraq who are writing this month about daily life in their country. For the month of February, Gerald Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, will contribute an online-only column about American culture.

Students and faculty can go to nytimes.com/university to sign up for TimesSelect and receive the 50% discount. Students and faculty who read The Times through their colleges' readership programs will receive TimesSelect access cards from their colleges. The cards contain individual access codes that enable students and faculty to sign up for TimesSelect through the end of that academic semester.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2005 revenues of $3.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and 35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. For the fifth consecutive year, the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's 2005 list of America's Most Admired Companies. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.