Not long ago, when other media executives were convinced that the only way to succeed on the Web was to give away their content, The Financial Times played the eccentric.”We were regarded as slightly freakish,” says John Ridding, the newspaper’s chief executive.Indeed, the newspaper started charging readers for access to its Web site in 2002. Now, with few signs that advertising is rebounding from a deep slump, and with other publishers moving to imitate FT.com by erecting so-called pay walls, Mr. Ridding feels vindicated.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/business/media/17ft.html