Good daily news must be free, because the facts are free and there are too many places that will freely distribute those facts.<p>Good content, on the other hand, does not have to be daily news.  Which is the distinction I wish more newspaper companies would understand.  You'll never get people to pay for box scores or reprints from the AP/Reuters.  You <i>will</i> get people to pay for investigative journalism, quality insight, in depth reporting, etc.<p>The Times would have a better chance at monetizing if they stuck to such a 'members' section concept.  Another under-appreciated fact overlooked in most monetization schemes: people will pay for the ability to comment and be given preferential comment placement.
And when only subscribers can comment, it's <i>far</i> easier to police for spam and moderate for civility.