Times are a'-charging for web news

Newspaper publishers have given the first indication of how they plan to charge people for reading news online with one of the world's best-known newspapers,The Times of London, to offer an ''all-you-can-eat'' package to readers.

By the northern hemisphere spring, web users will have access to the newspaper's website as part of their general subscription fee or pay a fee to download as many stories as they like during a 24-hour period, the editor of The Times revealed.

The comments effectively end speculation that News Corp - the publisher of The Times - will adopt a model similar to iTunes where casual users pay to read per article.

The editor of The Times, James Harding, argued that model could also undermine quality journalism.

''You have to be very careful with article-only economics. You will find yourself writing a lot more about Britney Spears and a lot less about Tamils in northern Sri Lanka,'' Mr Harding was quoted in The Guardian as telling an industry conference in England.

Executives at News Limited - the Australian publishing arm of News Corp - remained coy about plans to follow The Times. Sydney, along with London and New York, has a team investigating pricing plans.

A spokesman for News's online arm, News Digital Media, said: "We have no plans to start charging for content in the first quarter of next year. The pricing model discussed in the United Kingdom is not necessarily what we will be doing here. We have yet to finalise our plans.''

Other publishers, including Fairfax Media, the publisher of the Herald, are waiting to see what will happen to audiences when the ''pay walls'' are erected. While business newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal - also owned by News - have a million paying subscribers, few commentators believe people will pay for general news, which accounts for the majority of readership online.

The chief executive of Fairfax, Brian McCarthy, said advertising sold on Fairfax websites remained its main business model.

''Charging users of these general news sites for access may not be profitable for us in the long term,'' he told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting this month.

Renee Barnes, a lecturer in online journalism at RMIT, was doubtful that Australian web browsers - many of whom were young and used to not paying for content - would change their habits.

''People have quite clearly said that they won't pay for Facebook and yet we are expecting them to pay for news.''

- © Fairfax NZ News