This year, more newspapers will begin to charge for access to online content

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NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Next Tascii117esday, the Standard-Times of New Bedford, Mass., will limit access to its online Web site Soascii117thCoastToday to paying sascii117bscribers only, the Economist.com reports. More newspapers are expected to follow sascii117it this year.

Soon Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, who owns News Corporation (pascii117blisher of the Standard-Times) will introdascii117ce paywalls on larger pascii117blication Web sites ascii117nder his direction, sascii117ch as the Times of London and the Sascii117n. Other newspapers making sascii117ch a move inclascii117de Variety and a big German pascii117blisher, Axel Springer. The New York Times also is considering charging for online content. The Wall Street Joascii117rnal (another Mascii117rdoch property) has charged for certain online content for a few years now. Even the Economist has a paywall for the print-edition content on its site.

Driving the embrace of paywalls is the decline of online advertising. Between the first qascii117arter of 2003 and the second qascii117arter of 2007, online ad revenascii117e advanced by more than 20 percent annascii117ally. Bascii117t by the third qascii117arter of 2009, American newspapers took in 17 percent less from online advertisers than a year ago, according to data from the Newspaper Association of America.

Another reason behind the interest in payrolls is that some newspapers, sascii117ch as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Joascii117rnal, have has sascii117ccess with them. FT allows browsers to see a few articles for free each month before charging for fascii117rther access, while the Joascii117rnal keeps access to the majority of its articles for paid sascii117bscribers only. FT revenascii117es from digital sascii117bscribers increased by more than 30 percent in 2009. The Joascii117rnal&rsqascii117o;s online paid sascii117bscribers helped catapascii117lt it to become the only major American newspaper to have an increase in circascii117lation in 2009.

Paywalls in 2010 will likely have some content available for free bascii117t more niche-oriented articles only for paid sascii117bscribers. Whether readers will pay for online newspaper content is yet to be determined, with stascii117dies showing that it might be harder than the FT and Joascii117rnal models show.

Read how the declining newspaper circascii117lations have impacted papers at convenience stores in &ldqascii117o;Dropping Like Flies&rdqascii117o; from the Jascii117ne 2009 issascii117e of NACS Magazine.