Most information available on the Internet is now accessed via the World Wide Web, and so far most of that information has been free. In the last few weeks, some US web publishers have indicated that they are planning charges. With an eye on the future, other news providers are trying to attract younger web users and introduce them to the idea of news content for the first time. Christopher McWhinnie of Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit reports:

Some UK web sites, such as 'The Times' and the 'Electronic Telegraph', ask users to register their e-mail address. Password access is granted in return for answers to a number of compulsory questions, which help the web site build a profile of its users.

In the last few weeks, some US web publishers have indicated that they are planning charges. 'Business Week' plans to charge, and 'The New York Times' is piloting a scheme for charging for the use of its archive.

Sites which already charge include 'The Wall Street Journal', 'The Economist' and Agence France-Presse (AFP). In the case of AFP, the fee is only two French francs per item, but this is becoming easier to collect and simpler for users with the imminent arrival of more sophisticated electronic payment systems.

The move to sites requiring payment has been seen in Eastern Europe and Russia too: the 'Moscow Times', for instance, costs 40 dollars for a six-month subscription after a free trial. Microsoft's own 'Slate' on-line magazine, which had previously indicated that a subscription fee would be levied this year, has since abandoned its plans to seek payment.

Many sites which become pay-sites see the number of visits or "hits" plummet. The 'American Journalism Review' AJR-Newslink site had this observation from a Tribune Publishing spokesman:

"You don't want to do anything to limit the size of audience or its growth. This is a time when you have to reach people as they come on to the web and make them interested in your product. So charging money for the product isn't worth sacrificing for market share."

The growth of which he speaks has been immense. AJR says that in 1995 there were just 471 on-line newspapers; there are now around 3,600, half of which have started in the last six months.

Relatively few, just 3 per cent, have fallen by the wayside and abandoned their sites.

Selling via the Internet may not be big business for the publishers of newspapers yet, but there are signs that the medium's interactivity can prompt users to delve into their virtual pockets.

Sony Music is the largest on-line music seller to bypass conventional retailers. Perhaps the 18m dollars worth of CDs sold on the web last year show that people will pay if they can search more easily on the web for what they want than at a library or store.

News for a new generation

For newspapers, the remarkable ability to locate and access news articles and attract paid advertising could generate some income, but others are taking a longer-term approach.

America's Atlanta-based CNN web site is about to launch content for teenagers. Reuters has already produced 'Yahooligans' for the Yahoo web search site, and America's ABC News and Channel One have pages for younger web readers too.

Tomorrow's online news consumers?

With an eye on the future, these news providers hope to attract young web surfers - and keep them. The aim is to introduce young people to news to guarantee the future of the news organizations.

Some television stations, usually public service broadcasters, have had great success with news for the new generation, although very few radio stations have done so.

In 10 years' time, one observer commented, the web will be an integral part of the media, and we will turn to the computer network for news as naturally as we now switch on the TV or radio or pick up a newspaper.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.  
 

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