In 1996, The New York Times made its public debut on the World Wide Web, marking a significant milestone in the history of digital journalism. The website, launched on January 22nd, offered readers immediate access to most of the newspaper’s content, expanding its reach globally. The initiative was part of a strategy to extend the readership of The Times.
The idea of taking The New York Times online was initially part of a project called The New York Times in the Year 2000, which involved a task force including editor A.M. Rosenthal and Arthur Gelb, among others. Peter H. Lewis, a Science section editor at the time, had predicted that Times articles would be read on personal computer screens in cyberspace, a concept that was initially dismissed but eventually came to fruition.
Lewis, also a personal computers columnist, registered the domain name nytimes.com in the early 1990s. When the newspaper decided to go online, they needed the domain name, which had been chosen over a shorter option registered by another reporter, John Markoff. The website was officially launched in January 1996, with Lewis transferring ownership of the domain to The Times, although he claims he never received his $35 reimbursement.
Today, both nytimes.com and nyt.com lead readers to The Times’s home page, showcasing its transformation into a digital powerhouse. The behind-the-scenes story of how The New York Times made its foray into the online world sheds light on the ongoing evolution of journalism in the digital age.
Note: The image is for illustrative purposes only and is not the original image of the presented article.
