Two of the world’s biggest news organisations, CNN and Reuters, have erected paywalls, asking users to help fund journalism.
They join major news titles The New York Times ($US27 a month) and the Wall Street Journal ($42) in restricting access to those who will pay.
CNN.com is America’s most popular news site with a reported 441 million unique visitors a month.
The media group will charge $US3.99 a month to help pay for CNN’s journalism.
“Starting today, we are asking users in the United States to pay a small recurring fee for unlimited access to CNN.com’s world-class articles,” Alex MacCallum, CNN’s executive vice president of digital products and services, wrote in an internal memo.
CNN, owned by Warner Bros Discovery, is using a version of the freemium model, pioneered by the New York Times.
Users will only be prompted to pay after they have used a free article allocation.
“Only after users consume a certain number of free articles will they be prompted to subscribe,” MacCallum said.
“In addition to unlimited access to CNN.com’s articles, subscribers will receive benefits like exclusive election features, original documentaries, a curated daily selection of our most distinctive journalism, and fewer digital ads.”
Mark Thompson, the current chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, is a former CEO of the New York Times who led that newspaper's digital transformation.
Reuters said full access to its website and app will cost $US1 a week, or $4 per month.
The Press Gazette in the UK reported Reuters will begin rolling out the digital subscription in Canada in early October before it goes to multiple countries in Europe and the US and all around the world.
“This new subscription plan ensures Reuters can expand the reach of its award-winning coverage at an affordable price, while allowing us to further invest in our reporting and products for subscribers,” said Reuters president Paul Bascobert.
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