When we first launched this newsletter almost a year ago, we did something unique: Not only was the newsletter free to read, but all the news stories we linked to were free as well.
We wanted to make sure our readers around the world — you all — could get to know our journalism before we ask you to support us. That time has now come. The newsletter will remain free. But the free access to links inside will be limited to a select few a day.
Some of you have written in, surprised and sometimes annoyed at the prospect of hitting the paywall. I get it. So in today’s newsletter, I want to explain why we need people who can afford it to pay for our journalism. Many of you already do. Thank you.
Without fear or favor — but at a cost
You may have heard that the phone records of several colleagues were recently subpoenaed by the Trump administration. In some cases, federal agents showed up at the homes of Times journalists demanding their testimony before a grand jury.
The aim was to force them to disclose the names of confidential sources who had informed their reporting about the security shortcomings of President Trump’s new Air Force One jet, a present from Qatar. They continued to cover the story despite threats from the F.B.I.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had to defend ourselves against a government unhappy about the probing eye of investigative journalism — and it won’t be the last. Trump and his campaign have already filed three lawsuits against The New York Times. Unlike some other outlets that settled, we stood our ground. So far we’ve won every time, though some litigation is still pending.
This increasingly hostile environment for independent reporting in the United States and elsewhere in the world has made our job much harder. My colleagues have had to find new ways to report in the face of limited access, increased surveillance and more fearful sources.
Our publisher A.G. Sulzberger gave a speech last year, encouraging journalists to keep reporting “without fear or favor.” For The New York Times that means spending more on safety, security and litigation than ever before — nearly 10 times more than a decade ago, he said.
We are also consulting with our lawyers more than in the past to make sure we’re not inadvertently exposing ourselves to legal risks.
It all leads to a hard truth: Independent journalism has become a lot more challenging and expensive to produce. But that’s also what makes it a lot more important.
A world hostile to journalism
In more and more places, journalists face arrest or violence for reports that challenge the government.
We’ve had a journalist expelled from China. Israel has barred foreign journalists from operating freely in Gaza for almost three years now.
But my colleagues are still reporting on those places, and others, because we believe their stories need to be told.
The New York Times puts journalists on the ground in more than 150 countries. That’s how Kim Barker could tell The World about her experience on the Ukrainian front lines. And Abdi Latif Dahir reported for us on the streets of Tehran during the former Iranian leader’s recent funeral. And Jack Nicas went to Cuba to cover its attempts to survive during a U.S. oil blockade.
They are our — and your — eyes and ears on the ground. They are what hopefully makes The New York Times and this newsletter valuable to you. Paying them fairly and keeping them safe is expensive. Last year, The Times published nearly half a million original pieces of journalism — articles, photos, videos, podcasts — at a cost of more than $2 billion, according to A.G.
The A.I. revolution
An already very challenging environment for news organizations is not getting any easier. Following the internet revolution, we bled ad revenues. The U.S. lost more than 3,000 newspapers over the last two decades.
Now we’re into the A.I. revolution, and subscription revenues could be next in line. A.G. recently wrote an essay (available for free!) explaining how A.I. companies pose a threat. They’re taking our journalism to train their models without paying for it, then offer it up as their own instead of sending potential subscribers back to us.
“Tech giants strip-mine news websites without permission or compensation,” he wrote. “They repackage these stolen goods as their own, siphoning off the audiences and revenue that otherwise would go to the news organizations that created this work.”
The New York Times was the largest source of proprietary data in a major dataset used to train many different models, A.G. said.
That’s why we’re currently suing OpenAI and Microsoft. But as A.G. noted, “lawsuits are slow and expensive — ours has already stretched two-and-a-half years and cost over $20 million. As A.I. companies are doubtless aware, most news organizations lack the resources to go to court to enforce their rights.”
All this is to say — there is an inherent tension in our mission to produce independent quality journalism and get that journalism before as many eyes as possible.
I, too, wish we could make it all available for free. But I hope I’ve explained why that’s not possible. So if you value our journalism, please subscribe to The New York Times. In the meantime, rest assured this newsletter will still be in your inbox every morning for free.
TOP NEWS
A powerful earthquake hit Colombia
The magnitude 7.4 quake shook several major cities in western Colombia, including the capital, Bogotá; Cali; and Medellín. At least 111 people were killed, and the death toll appeared likely to rise.
At least 20 buildings collapsed in Cali, trapping people inside, according to the city’s mayor. Officials warned of aftershocks. Follow our live coverage.
OTHER NEWS
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A Ukrainian drone strike on an industrial city was one of the war’s deadliest attacks inside Russia, killing at least 13 people.
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Iran said that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the U.S. agreed to demands including lifting a naval blockade.
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Israel and the U.S. are waging war on Hezbollah’s sources of funding, particularly from Iran.
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China evacuated more than one million people from their homes and canceled hundreds of flights after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall.
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Meta released an open-source version of its most powerful A.I. model, as it seeks to catch up with competitors.
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Taiwan slowed the internet to test how it might cope if a Chinese attack disrupted communications.
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The police in India used tear gas to break up a youth protest in Jharkhand over qualifying exams for government jobs.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING
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In a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Amanda Knox tries to turn her tabloid infamy into stand-up comedy.
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A flight from British Columbia to Toronto was canceled after a young child refused to sit down and buckle a seatbelt.
TOP OF THE WORLD
The most clicked link in your newsletter yesterday was a 25-minute single-leg workout.
OPINIONS
The assassination of Mehrzad Boroujerdi’s father taught him what to expect from the men in power in Iran.
The war in Ukraine is ripe for resolution and the U.S. must seize the moment to launch intensive negotiations, Thomas E. Graham argues.
The writer Timothy Egan watched his hometown go up in flames. He writes about how extreme infernos are forcing us to rethink nature.
BAILOUT OF THE DAY
DNF
The acronym for “did not finish” is common in online book spaces. So much so that this year, the book rating app Goodreads added a feature that allowed users to flag if they gave up on a book. “If a book isn’t working for you,” the company wrote on Instagram, “it’s always OK to move on.”
MORNING VIDEO
Lily Kuo and Callie Holtermann, two Times reporters, recently noticed the same nostalgia trend on opposite sides of the world. In both China and the U.S., many young people are interested in the early internet: Microsoft WordArt, hyper-saturated websites, rotating cursors, Windows graphics.
Part of the reason seems to be a yearning for a time when the internet was less curated and commercialized and, in China’s case, less controlled. Catch their conversation about what makes each trend unique in the video above.
AROUND THE WORLD
Too hot for hot chiles
The small town of Kunri is Pakistan’s red chile capital. Farmers dry their wares in the sun, and the fiery air sometimes makes eyes water and throats burn. But climate change has upended traditional farming, with both drought and floods shortening the growing season and exposing fragile young plants to temperatures close to 50 degrees Celsius.
“If there is too much rain, it will destroy the crop,” one farmer said. “If there is no rain, that will also be destructive.” He added: “It seems that nature is no longer on our side.” Read more about Pakistan’s chile farmers.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Travel: “Ted Lasso” has turned the London suburb of Richmond-upon-Thames into a tourist hot spot.
Watch: “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender” is full of fun, propulsive action, our critic writes.
Indulge: Long-table vineyard dinners — an Instagrammer’s Italian fantasy — have become more popular in Tuscany.
Rock: What’s the deal with all of the shirtdresses?
RECIPE
This one-pot tomato lentil rice works equally well as a side dish or as the main course. Top it with a generous dollop of herby dill-and-feta yogurt and serve with a fresh cucumber salad.
WHERE IS THIS?
Where are these buildings?
TIME TO PLAY
Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.
That’s it for today. See you tomorrow! — Katrin
We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at [email protected].
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