Globe to charge for online content

The Globe and Mail announced Thursday it will start charging for online content this fall.

The paper says it will introduce a metered paywall system, where readers will be asked to pay if they read more than a certain number of articles a month. The paper hasn’t decided on the minimum number of articles readers can read for free or the price it will charge over that threshold.

It had originally decided to charge only for content on its Report on Business page, but expanded that to include all content in response to what CEO Phillip Crawley called "an unpredictable advertising market," where advertising revenue for both print and digital content has been falling both in North America and Europe.

The Globe is following the lead of the New York Times, which is expected to collect $85-million US from online subscribers this year.

Postmedia Network Inc. said last month it would charge for content on the Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province websites.

Crawley also told employees Thursday that they would be asked to take unpaid leaves this summer in another effort to cut costs.