Will Newspapers Survive the "Free to Fee" Transisition?

I recently read this AP article on StarTribune.com about many newspapers making the decision to charge for on-line content this Fall and made me wonder whether or not such a transition will be successful?

In general, newspapers have not charged for online content (with the exception of archived articles) and readers, including myself, have grown accustomed to free information available at the click of the mouse. So how will these readers respond?

This is a very difficult question to answer, but a very important one.  I can't speak for other readers, but I personally would not pay for a newspapers site online with all the other sources out there including broadcast news websites and the local television newscasts that I don't have to pay a dime for.

With that said I think there is a way newspapers could make money through subscribers without pushing away those people who visit their websites for free content and that is to charge only for in depth content that a subscriber could not find anywhere else.

To illustrate a point I'll refer to a website I visit often...ESPN.com. I visit ESPN.com on a daily basis and get free access to the usual content that I could find on nearly any other major sports website (the ESPN.com writer may have a little different take on the content, but for the most part its the same).  I do not; however, have access to ESPN.com's most unique and in depth content. To get access to that content I would have to subscribe at $6.50/month for month to month, $3.33/month for a year or $2.50/month for two years. That subscription would get me access to all ESPN.com's content and a hard copy of ESPN: the magazine.

Newspapers could follow a similar model that would entice their most devoted readers and news junkies to pay for in depth content while not alienating their casual readers.  This also eliminates some of the risk of web traffic to a paper's site dropping off substantially when they convert to paid content making it more attractive for ad sales.

I'm interested in what everyone else thinks about this subject, so make sure to leave your comments.