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Opinion page merge with OpinionJournal in one free site

The Wall Street Journal Online took another step toward opening to the web by merging its opinion content with OpinionJournal.com into one free site.

Here's a little secret about the Wall Street Journal website. They have a deal in place with Digg that makes WSJ.com content free already. One person with access to a story behind the pay wall just has to Digg it, and everyone else can get to the story from the Digg link.

However, the Journal wants everyone to know they have freed up some content in a different way. The Journal disclosed its newly tweaked opinion policy today:

We're rolling out a new Web site for the Journal editorial page offering free access to all of our editorials and op-eds, video interviews and commentary. It's as close as we'll get to conceding there is such a thing as a free lunch.

Which makes us think the editorial board missed the essential detail behind the Digg deal, but no matter. Whether a visitor hits wsj.com/opinion or OpinionJournal.com, they will reach the new page of freed editorial stories and other features.

The Journal's opinion pages have always been worth a visit. The repurposed Opinion site marks a good start toward their opening of more of their content. Unless of course, it's already been opened, right?