Johnston Press to charge for online news

Media group Johnston Press, which owns 12 regional titles in the Republic, said today it has no plans to charge online readers in Ireland for access to its newspapers' following a decision to introduce paid-for access for some of its websites in Britain.

The group, whose titles including the Kilkenny People, the Limerick Leaderand the Tallaght Echo, today confirmed reports that it is to begin charging for access to a selection of its regional newspaper websites from Monday.

The payment system applies to seven titles and will restrict users of those newspapers' websites from accessing content beyond the homepage unless they pay £5 for a three-month subscription.

The decision to introduce a so-called 'pay wall' comes as newspapers around the world seek to combat declining advertising revenues and circulation.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Lori Cunningham, digital strategy director with Johnston Press said that despite reports suggesting otherwise there were no plans to introduce fees across the rest of its titles.

"This is really just a small-scale trial with the intention being to understand better the dynamics around paid-for online content from a consumer perspective. There are no plans in place to roll it out further," she said.

There's a lot of noise in the market surrounding charging for online content and this trial gives us a chance to see what the real dynamic is," Ms Cunningham added.

Among the newspapers to introduce paid-for access to online content on Monday will be the Northumberland Gazette, the Worcester News, Worksop Guardian, the Ripley and Heanor News, Carrick Gazette, the Southern Reporter, the Whitby Gazette,

News International, which owns the London Timesand the Sunhas also signalled its intention to begin charging for online content from next year.

Speaking last week, the London TimeseditorJames Harding said it would charge for 24-hour access to that day's edition of the newspaper alongside a subscription model which would cover others areas of its website.

News International chairman Rupert Murdoch has also threatened to remove stories from Google's search index as a way to encourage people to pay for online content.