Paper charges big bucks for web site

NEWPORT, R.I. - A Rhode Island newspaper is changing its pricing structure in order to take advantage of people who want to read its news only online.

The Newport, R.I. Daily News will now charge $145 annually to a newspaper subscriber, $245 if a subscriber wants the paper and access to the paper's Web site, and, a whopping $345 if the subscriber only wants the Web site, according to PaidContent.org .

Charging more for the Web site than the actual paper is a strategy that hasn't been tried by anyone in the failing newspaper business and one that most experts believe is doomed to fail.

"What makes Newport unique is that it has made reading its Web site punitive," said former WashingtonPost.com executive editor Jim Brady. "This model reeks of desperation."

Many newspapers offer their content for free online and most that charge for their Web content use a pricing structure where Internet-only news is the cheapest.

In the past few years, newspapers such as the Rocky Mountain News and Baltimore Examiner have shuttered and others including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have gone to online-only models. The Web site Newspaper Death Watch chronicles the struggling industry.