Two of Britain's top-selling newspapers will start charging for online content beginning in June.
The Times and The Sunday Times made the announcement Friday 26 of March. Readers will be charged £2 for a week's subscription, or £1 for a day's access to two new sites, thetimes.co.uk and sundaytimes.co.uk. Existing subscribers to the print editions will be given free online access, according to Times Online.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, parent company of The Times, announced in August plans to charge for online content on all of the company's newspaper Web sites.
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International - a British division of News Corp. - said this of the announcement in a statement Friday: "This is a crucial step towards making the business of news an economically exciting proposition. We are proud of our journalism and unashamed to say that we believe it has value."
The move by News International would make it the first mass-market, consumer newspaper in the UK to charge people to read general interest news stories on the web, according to CNET News.
"This is just the start. The Times and The Sunday Times are the first of our four titles in the UK to move to this new approach. We will continue to develop our digital products and to invest and innovate for our customers," Brooks said in her statement, according to Times Online and The New York Times.