Murdoch looking to charge for newspaper websites

In the latest salvo in the ongoing battle between newspaper publishers and the Internet, web tycoon Rupert Murdoch says he's just about had it and will likely start charging end users to read content on the websites for his various newspapers within the next year.

Spurred by the success of the Wall Street Journal's website -- Murdoch's News Corporation acquired the WSJ's parent company, Dow Jones, in late 2007 -- Murdoch wants to extend that model across his empire. You certainly can't blame him from salivating over the possibilities: The WSJ's online version has been one of paid content's biggest success stories -- if not the biggest -- of all time. The company hit over a million paying customers for the website in 2007, and access now costs $1.99 a week for a year of service. That's big money.

Murdoch only runs one other U.S. paper -- the New York Post -- plus a heavy smattering of publications across the UK and Australia. Some, like UK's Sun, are already experimenting with non-traditional moneymaking exercises online, but those largely amount to offering online gambling apps and selling framed photos of topless "Page 3" girls to readers. Will customers pay for a running commentary on the latest Big Brother episode and soccer gossip? In this economy, I suspect they'll likely be happy to go elsewhere for their daily fix.

The secret of the WSJ's success is that it offers high-quality reporting that is often exclusive and unavailable elsewhere. Its financial coverage is a standard that is often specified in contracts, even: Many loan rates are based, for example, on certain figures published on certain days by the Journal, making it unique in the newspaper business. (That said, the WSJ offers a lot of its content for free, as well.)

Of course, if everyone charges for online news, then many users would probably pay for it, but as long as there are even a few high-quality free options, many of which run the same news feeds as everyone else, such a plan seems doomed to failure.

Meanwhile, soak up stories like "Supermodel in Divorce Hell" for free while you can, because soon you might have to pay money if you feel the need to read this stuff.