As a gesture to aid the millions of East Coast residents bracing for monster snow storm Nemo, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have announced a temporary halt to their paywalls.
“We’ll be dropping our paywall beginning tonight at midnight through Sunday due to the winter storm,” says Sara Blask of the Wall Street Journal, meaning that non-paying customers will have mobile and online access to critical news and information during the blizzard.
A rep for the New York Times confirmed the same plan. Spokesperson Eileen Murphy says the NYT is “dropping the pay gate tonight at 6 and will re-evaluate tomorrow evening.”
This course of action is becoming the acceptable move for print and electronic media outlets to make in times of national emergencies. As some will recall, Hurricane Sandy similarly prompted East Coast papers to remove paid barriers to content during the horrendous and deadly storm.
Nemo is expected to strike the Northeast later today, leaving upwards of 2 feet of snow along the Interstate 95 corridor from the New York City area to Boston and farther north.
