The New York Times takes on the world

Frank Sinatra sung it a few times - if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.

The New York Times is pitching up $50 million in the hope Frank was right.

The Times is looking beyond the US and to the world to help boost its revenue in this challenging media environment.

The Times hopes that it can attract subscribers well beyond the US borders. It's creating a new division called New York Times Global, dumping $50m into the division in a quest to gain more traffic and paying customers from other countries.

It's an ambitious play given that widespread readership hasn't meant riches for the likes of the Daily Mail, which missed its revenue target last year despite boasting more than 200 million unique users globally each month. The Mail relies on advertising so the Times will know that it has to sell subscriptions to make this work.

The New York Times is grappling with shrinking online ad prices and the constant battle to get readers to pay for news. Anyone who gets an email weekly from the Times offering special deals knows that it needs more subscribers.

The Times' quest will be watched by other news executives who seek a solution to the shrinking revenues that have crippled newsrooms in many parts of the western world. 

For now, it's up to you, New York, New York.