What is most important to online newspaper consumers and what will encourage them to not just read online news but actually pay for it is the key question investigated in this research. It looked at the changing user environment and the technological and cultural factors shaping it. I also examined the changing media landscape and how media organisations are dealing with changes in the behaviour of their readers. The main findings of this study are based on large scale user research of an Australian population. The research was aimed at finding out what factors encourage readership and potential willingness to pay for online news content. In addition to this, the study also looked at what monetary amount users are willing to pay for online news content.   The research was primarily quantitative in nature, utilising an online questionnaire. However, it also had a small component of qualitative research which collected users’ views on media organisations and news consumption. A case study of The Age, one of the largest Australian newspapers, was also carried out and included a number of interviews with business stakeholders to get their views of the current online media environment.  Whilst most anecdotal evidence suggests that users oppose to paying for news content online, this study suggests that this is not the case and that majority of people are willing to pay. What are they willing to pay? It seems like the golden number is around one dollar per month. A number of factors that influence user willingness to pay are also identified, together with suggestions of how media companies can use these factors to increase online news readership and revenue and establish a sound business model