Stardate 20030424.0204

(On Screen): Alas, yet another site has decided to start charging for access to some of its material. In this case it is the Independent. Of course, every other site which has started doing this has found that a small percentage of its readers (often very small) convert to subscribing members, while the vast majority simply stop visiting. Of course, a small number of paying readers is worth more money than a lot of free-loaders, so maybe they'll still think it's reasonable.

But there's a silver lining in this dark cloud. Among the material they're going to put behind this barrier will be articles written by Robert Fisk. Thus his readership is about to collapse. His material will only reach a small fraction of the number of people it used to, and thus will not be able to do as much harm as it used to.

So let's all give a cheer for the Independent. If they had to carry Fisk's work at all, at least they have the good sense to put it behind a locked door.