Appearing at South by Southwest for the first time, New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson spoke frankly about the paper's pay wall at a panel dedicated to "The Future of The New York Times." Abramson said that she supports the pay wall but also thinks that "news wants to be free." Sure, this may seem a little contradictory, but Abramson thinks the paper has struck a balance between holding on to subscription revenue while also giving people access to their journalism. "We're really pleased with the number of people who have signed up for digital subscriptions -- It's a good way to secure our future," she said, according to Poynter's liveblog of the event.  "We remain free for vast majority of people who visit our site and are part of discussion on the open web."

In the video above, Forbes columnist Jeff Bercovici caught Abramson in the hallway before the talk and teased a few more details out of her about her first SXSW experience. “I’m here, but I’m humble," Abramson told Bercovici. Sure, but not too humble to mention she'll be seeing Jay-Z perform.

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Adam Clark Estes