The Times and Sunday Times newspapers are to start charging to access their websites in June, owner News International has announced.

The new sites will be available for a free trial period to registered customers with payment giving access to both sites. The decision to charge is seen as a high risk strategy given the large amount of freely available online news content. But Brooks insisted the decision was the right one.

The charge came “at a defining moment for journalism… We are proud of our journalism and unashamed to say that we believe it has value,” she said. “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.”

Few news websites charge for online access. The Financial Times, which is owned by Pearson Plc, allows a number of articles to be read freely charging beyond a set limit.

The Wall Street Journal which is also owned by Rupert Murdoch has charged for some online content for some time though many articles remain free. In August 2009, Rupert Murdoch announced that he would to introduce charges for all his newspapers, saying that News Corporation wanted to prevent readers moving to free sites by making its content better and differentiated from other publishers.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet