by Beverley Catlett
Staff Writer
In the spring of 2014, the New York Times released NYT Now, an iPhone app, also accessible online, that offers the Times’ news feed in a mobile-oriented, easily accessible form: breaking news articles are handpicked and summarized by editors to form a daily feed that allows users on to access all of the Times’ top stories easily and at their fingertips. And at Sewanee, NYT Now comes with an additional perk: the New York Times is now offering Sewanee students and faculty full digital access to NYT Now for free. One of our nation’s leading news sources for over a century, the New York Times has long promised its readers some of the best coverage of timely events – but always at a price. A full digital subscription to NYTimes.com plus the NYTimes smartphone app usually runs at almost four dollars a month, and full digital access runs at a monthly rate of $8.75.
In Sewanee, home paper delivery is not even an option. Consequently, the Times is a top news source to which many of us have been limited thus far, until the release of NYT Now. Sewanee is one of several universities across the country – a list including Princeton, Brown, Stanford and others – that has been privileged with free digital subscriptions in the 2014 school year. The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is a global media organization “dedicated to enhancing society by creating, collecting, and distributing high-quality news and information.” In keeping with that mission, NYSE:NYT has introduced NYT Now as part of a widespread initiative among students or other mobile oriented, on-the-go users – by offering full access to NYT Now to some universities for free, the company hopes to encourage students to stay informed and encourage their peers to do the same.
Signing up for a digital subscription is easy and free. To download the NYT Now app on your smartphone or other iOS device, ensure that the device is connected to a Sewanee WiFi network. Having done so, simply type NYT Now into the search bar in your phone’s App Store, download the application for free, and create an account using your Sewanee email address. Subscribing to NYT Now online is equally simple. Once again ensuring that your device is connected to a Sewanee network, go to nyt.com/grouppass and sign up for an Academic Pass using your school email. Comfortable and paramount as the Sewanee “bubble” may seem, we as students have a tendency to let current events – so seemingly foreign to the realm of our quiet community – pass us by. Nonetheless, it’s important for us to remember that there is a world that revolves outside of the mountain. Though it may or may not be one in which we are ready to fully immerse ourselves, having a basic awareness of the breaking news events that affect the rest of globe is a solid start in expanding our perception beyond the peaceful realm of the Domain.