The New York Times has officially confirmed that it is to charge its online readers.
A story just published on the NYT site says:
"Starting in early 2011, visitors to NYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the newspaper's print edition will receive full access to the site.
But executives of The New York Times Company said they could not yet answer fundamental questions about the plan, like how much it would cost or what the limit would be on free reading. They stressed that the amount of free access could change with time, in response to economic conditions and reader demand."
There has been much speculation about the NYT's plans in recent weeks.
Arthur Sulzberger Jr, the company chairman and publisher of the newspaper, said: "This announcement allows us to begin the thought process that's going to answer so many of the questions that we all care about. We can't get this halfway right or three-quarters of the way right. We have to get this really, really right."
Janet L Robinson, the company's president and chief executive, added: ""There's no prize for getting it quick. There's more of a prize for getting it right."
Plans for charging for online content have been become more pressing for newspapers as the twin forces of economic recession and declining print revenue have gripped the industry.
Rupert Murdoch gave the debate even more urgency by revealing that News Corp plans to charge for online content.
The NYT report adds: "Two specialised papers charge already: the Wall Street Journal, which makes certain articles accessible only to subscribers, and the Financial Times, which allows non-paying readers to see up to 10 articles a month, a system close to what is planned by the Times."
This system of online charging has been attacked by critics such as Jeff Jarvis, who runs the website BuzzMachine.com and is a Guardian columnist, because it penalises the most loyal readers.
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