In January 1996, The New York Times announced the launch of its website, making its content available to readers around the world. The idea for an online platform was initially part of a project called The New York Times in the Year 2000, and editor A.M. Rosenthal and Arthur Gelb formed a task force that included Peter H. Lewis, who was later assigned to cover the rise of the internet.
Mr. Lewis, a Science editor and personal computers columnist at the time, had registered the nytimes.com domain in the early 1990s, which eventually became the website’s official address. Despite not being involved in the website’s launch, Mr. Lewis played a significant role in bringing The Times online.
However, there was a dispute over reimbursement for the $35 fee paid to register the domain. While Mr. Lewis transferred ownership of the URL to The Times, he never received his money back. He jokingly mentioned the issue in an email on Friday, suggesting that reimbursement was long overdue.
Despite the initial disagreement, both nytimes.com and nyt.com now redirect readers to The Times’s website. The story of how The New York Times made its way to the internet is a testament to the changing landscape of journalism and the newspaper’s commitment to reaching a global audience through digital platforms.
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