Los Angeles Times to charge online readers from next month

Washington, Feb 25 (ANI): American newspaper The Los Angeles Times has announced that it will begin charging its online readers from next month.

Starting March 5, online readers will be asked to buy a digital subscription at an initial rate of 99 cents for four weeks.

Print subscribers will not be charged extra for online access and visitors to LATimes.com who do not subscribe will be able to read up to 15 stories for free in a 30-day period.

With its decision to charge online readers, The Los Angeles Times has become the latest firm to joining a growing roster of news organisations looking for a way to offset declines in revenue.

After the 99 cents for the first four weeks, the rate will rise to 1.99 dollars a week in a package that also includes the Sunday newspaper. Digital-only access will cost 3.99 dollars a week.

Kathy Thomson, president and chief operating officer of Los Angeles Times Media Group said that they 'want to serve customers when they want the news and where they want it.'

"The Times priced the digital subscription with the Sunday newspaper at a lower rate because they are complementary products," Thomson added.

Thomson also said that Times readers who access online news through a mobile phone, iPad or other tablet app won't have to pay for now, although the company plans to charge in the future.

Newspapers are taking this so-called porous approach to establishing paywalls because they don't want to erode the Web traffic they generate.

The Times was the third-most-viewed US newspaper website in 2011, with nearly 17 million visitors a month, according to ComScore Inc., a web analytics company.

The New York Times and the Washington Post rank first and second, respectively. (ANI)