New York Times plans to charge for online content

The New York Times could start charging for its online content "within three to four weeks", according to reports.

The Financial Times reported that a source "familiar" with the New York Times said the decision could be made within weeks, although a spokeswoman for the company said that no time frame had been put forward for making any such announcement.

In 2007 the New York Times abandoned a model whereby they charged readers for access to their archives and columns as, despite having 200,000 subscribers, the revenues were too low to sustain the service.

Arthur Sulzberger, the group's chairman, said: "While Times Select generated more than 200,000 subscriptions and around $10m, we decided to end this initiative."

The news could trigger an industry change in online journalism. Currently most news organisations provide their content online for free, although certain business publishers including the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal do charge users.

The news follows an announcement by Rupert Murdoch that News Corporation will begin to charge for its newspapers' online content within a year. Murdoch confirmed that this could include content available on The Sun and Times websites.

Guardian Media Group chief executive Carolyn McCall has also suggested that internet users could be charged for specialist material. She said: "Charging for B2B is the way to go."

Any move to charge for internet content would reflect a significant policy change as news organisations battle over a global online audience, while also facing falling advertising revenues and readerships across the industry.

Yet despite a need for media outlets to source new revenues, publishers are also concerned that a move to charge for digital content could see a massive drop off in traffic to their sites and ultimately damage advertising streams.

Falling advertising has already forced the New York Times group to mortgage its headquarters in downtown Manhattan. They also borrowed $250m from Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecoms billionaire, and are seeing heavy cuts to their operations at the Boston Globe.

Whether British newspapers begin widespread charging for online content remains to be seen. While the short-term outcome may stay the same, the long-term results for the future of online journalism may well rely on the success or failure of the New York Times' venture.