—Arthur Sulzberger Jr., NYT chairmanThe New York Times announced  on Thursday that it will start charging for full access to NYTimes.com, its online version.   Beginning March 28, U.S. visitors who do not subscribe to the print edition  will be allowed access to  20 articles a month. A digital subscription to  the website will be required to read additional content. 
The fee plan for Canadians is already in effect, allowing the NYT to "fine-tune the customer experience", according to the announcement.
Unlimited access to articles will continue to be free for those users  reaching the Times through links from   search engines, blogs, and social media like Facebook and Twitter. The  NYTimes.com home page and individual section front pages will continue be freely accessible. 
The NYT unsuccessfully tried a pay wall six years ago. Due to declining profits and readership of its print edition, it is ready to try again. 
According to comScore, a marketing research company that measures online traffic,  NYTimes.com had  31.4 million individual visitors in February. It is the most-read newspaper site in the world, reported The Guardian.
"The challenge now is to put a price on our work without walling ourselves off from the global network, to make sure we continue to engage with the widest possible audience", wrote Arthur Sulzberger Jr., NYT company chairman.

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New York Times to start charging for access to web news