Happy Hurricane Sandy — aka “Frankenstorm” — week, everyone! Welcome to the suck! On the bright side, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have decided that paywalls are a problem in the middle of a potentially very serious storm, and are taking them down. Granted, very few people are browsing the Style section in the middle of a potentially serious storm, but hey, sometimes you’ve got time to kill. Regardless, it’s all free until the storm passes.
According to its third quarter earnings report released this past week, the Times has about 566,000 digital subscribers to nytimes.com and the International Herald Tribune. But thousands more will be closely following the storm as severe weather typically brings traffic surges to news websites.
Wall Street Journal Digital Network Managing Editor Raju Narisetti tweeted Sunday afternoon that all of wsj.com would be freely available starting Monday.
Essentially, you’ll be able to get up to the minute information about the hurricane as it progresses.
If you’re in Sandy’s path, stay safe. It’s fun to joke about vodka and cigarettes, but look no further than what Hurricane Irene did to Vermont, so get a flashlight, get some food you can eat without electricity, and pay attention to the warnings. Also, leave some vodka at the liquor store, for God’s sake, we’ve been three times and came away with nothing.