I also wondered this. In this particular case, the story came out a good 10 months after the initial incident, so they clearly put some thought and time into it!
I have seen a lot of links/comments on that story in a wide variety of different communities, including those that are less traditionally interested in internet/multimedia design than HN, so it certainly did generate some good publicity for them.
If I were to hazard a guess, in this particular case the the 'expense' was mostly time(to interview everyone involved, write a riveting narrative, and produce graphics that tie in with the story as you read). I see this as the future of journalism - mixing in a variety of media and interactive elements with a story. In a sense it's already been done for quite some time, but this story really shows off what can be done.
I have a theory that big interactive pieces like that are Googleesque 20% time for the journalists and/or interactive folks that work there. I can't speak for the Times because, as another comment points out, they stand alone in journalism; however, every outfit I've ever worked at did not have enough hours in a day to pull off pieces like that with the workforce at employ.
There's at least one person from the digital side of the Times that contributes to Hacker News, the person that wrote the fantastic Emphasis[1]. (I've been looking for a chance to use it.) Wonder if he'll -- forgive the ambiguity, I've forgotten his username -- show up in this thread and shed some light on our speculation.
There's a whole bunch of us (Times employees) who read/submit/comment on HN from time to time.
I didn't have anything to do with Snow Fall, but I did frequently walk past the people who were working on it late at night. We don't have anything formalized like 20% time, but these projects are definitely a labor of love.
Thanks for chipping in. You guys do absolutely great work, and I'm sorry that these discussions usually turn to avoiding paying your employer for that work.
I know a couple people that are getting picked up by newsrooms for "startuppey" digital lab work, data visualization, that kind of thing. Your publication is definitely setting the pace for the field at large these days, and it's a good thing.
