News Corporation (ASX:NWS) has announced that it will charge $2.95 per week for online access to The Australian, or $4.95 to also access The Weekend Australian.
From October the paper will use a "freemium model" that includes a combination of paid and free content.
Free content is expected to include breaking news, general news and stock market reports.
The Australian advises that it be the first local News Corporation masthead to launch a paywall, with its tabloid cousins expected to adopt a similar model in the following months.
In the first half of its 2011 financial year, News Corp posted a net profit of just under $1.5 billion.
