New York Times website to charge

It said it will introduce a metered system, allowing readers free access to a limited number of articles, before charging for additional content.

A similar online payment model has been introduced by the UK’s Financial Times.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has also said it plans to start charging for access to its online newspapers.

News Corporation’s titles include the Sun and Times in the UK, as well as the New York Post in the US.

Risk to advertising

The New York Times has yet to say how many stories will be available free and what it will charge to read more.

It previously charged for access to its website back in 1996, but abandoned it after failing to build up sufficient subscription numbers.

Media analysts say this is the fundamental problem for newspapers thinking of charging for their online content – and that advertising revenues could fall as a result.

The New York Times is already struggling to make a profit.

Its parent group, the New York Times Company, made a loss of $35.6m (£22m) between July and September of last year.