The New York Times is now making TimesSelect available for free to users with a .edu email address. The pay service features the newspaper's archives dating back to 1851, as well as other premium content.

So why is the Times being generous so suddenly?

"It's part of our journalistic mission to get people talking on campuses," says Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager at NYTimes.com. "We wanted to open that up so that college students and professors can have a dialogue."

However, Casey over at Maison Bisson believes the motives may be a little more predictable...

[W]ith fewer than 700,000 Select subscribers and declining (zero?) readership among people under 40, NYT clearly had to do something.... [T]he Times’ Alexa rank has fallen precipitously since the Select launch.

[Editor & Publisher] 'NYT' Opening TimesSelect to Students and Teachers for Free (via Maison Bisson)