New York Times Company is in bad shape, and that’s honestly an under statement. According to The Atlantic, it’s on the brink of collapse – read the article and you’ll understand more. Nevertheless, being close to bankruptcy, or exactly for that reason, NYTimes is trying to come up with innovative ways to use its content. One of the ways is a set of open APIs and other tools for developers looking to hack into the vast amount of data the company has.

The obvious answer is that there’s no money in mashups, but then again you can never tell. Just look at how many of Google’s innovative services were created during the 20% “free time”. Secondly, you have to give it to the dying giant for trying – it’s one of the most prestigious companies in the world with long heritage and yet it pushes itself on the “cutting edge” of innovation. Media companies in general aren’t in that good a shape, so I’d expect more companies, both Finnish and international to try and come up with new ways they can bring value for the consumer.