Free Republic

The New York Times, which had been operating an all-free Web site, nytimes.com, will begin charging a fee for access to its major columnists under a new program called Times Select. Starting Sept. 19, the New York Times will charge $49.95 a year for online users to access 22 columnists including Tom Friedman, David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman, Bob Herbert, Nicholas Kristof and Frank Rich. -snip- Cybergossip Matt Drudge is threatening to boot the Times columnists. "I will yank the Times scribes if I can't find other outlets that are planning to carry them," threatened Drudge. "The Internet is...