Washington Post to charge frequent users monthly access fee

Following the lead by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post has become the latest newspaper in the US to announce a monthly fee for frequent users of its website

The Post, like its rivals, had taken a hit with readers have moving online, and its shrinking print circulation. The newspaper's parent company, last month announced a fourth quarter loss of $45.4 million as its newspaper-publishing arm posted a 5.8 per cent revenue decline.

Last year, the company said that a paywall was under consideration, though, according to Donald Graham, chairman and chief executive of The Washington Post Company, the company was yet find a model that would add to profits.

Commentators say it is significant that Graham, known in the journalism industry for his concern over possible adverse effects of charging for online content, had agreed to the model.

Katharine Weymouth, the publisher of the Post, said in a statement, "News consumers are savvy; they understand the high cost of a top-quality news gathering operation and the importance of maintaining the kind of in-depth reporting for which the Post is known."

"Our digital package is a valuable one, and we are going to ask our readers to pay for it and help support our news-gathering as they have done for many years with the print edition," she said.

Though the paper has not spelt out the charge amount, it has announced home-delivery subscribers, students, military and government employees and others would be exempt from paying.

According to commentators, the step, though modest in comparison with moves by some other publications, comes as a major change at the widely respected daily, which kept away from what has come to be known as paywall, for fear of driving away readers and online advertisers.

Weymouth said at a meeting for staff members, charging more and more for print subscriptions while giving away content online was ''a wholly irrational proposal for our readers.''

The Guardian newspaper, cited people familiar with The Post's online efforts as saying that the company was planning to release a new iPad application that it believed would help attract subscribers.