Newspaper Association of America

Some of the world's most prominent technology companies are offering suggestions to publishers on how they can charge readers for news online.

IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and Google Inc. -- a company some newspapers blame for helping dig their financial hole -- responded to a request by the Newspaper Association of America for proposals on ways to easily charge for news on the Web.

Three media veterans plan to bundle the Internet content of newspaper and magazine publishers into a subscription package that will test Web surfers' willingness to pay for material that has been given away for years.

The system won't be ready until the fall, but the plans were announced late Tuesday because so many publishers already are clamoring to sign up, said Steven Brill, co-chief executive of the new venture, called Journalism Online.

Google Inc.'s chief executive told newspaper publishers Tuesday that they should continue to rely on advertising but seek new ways to reach readers.

Without providing specific recipes, Eric Schmidt laid out a few possibilities, including a site for medicine similar to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which lets users collectively contribute and edit entries. He urged publishers to focus on mobile technology and the development of new platforms for delivering news.

Already facing a grim economic forecast, U.S. newspapers are digesting another piece of bad news: The growth in online advertising they saw as their salvation has slowed to a crawl.

With classified revenue dwindling, the news industry must get better at tailoring articles and display advertising to online readers, several newspaper executives agreed Tuesday.

Papers must more aggressively "slice and dice" content to readers' particular interests, Leon Levitt, vice president of digital media for Cox Newspapers Inc., said during a panel discussion at the annual conference of the Newspaper Association of America.

The Associated Press announced Monday it will further cut fees paid by struggling newspaper members and will develop an advertising-supported service that will deliver stories and photos to advanced cell phones, including the iPhone.

The service, which will carry local news from participating newspapers as well as national and international news from the AP, is being tested with several newspaper companies and is expected to launch in the summer under the name Mobile News Network, the AP said.

The Federal Trade Commission is getting an earful about Internet privacy. The opinions on the FTC's proposed self-regulatory principles to govern online advertising vary widely, with Microsoft taking bold steps to suggest an approach it deems "comprehensive."