New York Times dumps paid for content

"In light of this shift, we believe offering unfettered access to New York Times reporting and analysis best serves the interest of our readers, our brand and the long-term vitality of our journalism."

Users will still need to pay for archived articles between 1923 and 1986, but stories before and after those years will be available free.

Schiller said the newspaper believed making its website visitors pay for content would not bring in as much money as making it available for free and supporting it with advertising and sponsorship.

American Express will be the first sponsor of the opened areas on the site and will also appear on the homepage and opinion and archives sections.

Most newspaper websites are available free to users, except for Pearson's FT.com, which has been a long-time subscription-based website, and The Wall Street Journal.

However, with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in the process of completing a $5bn acquisition of Dow Jones, which owns the WSJ, that could be about to change.

Murdoch said in August that part of his restructuring of the Journal might include dumping the subscription charges for WSJ.com. If that happens and Murdoch opens up the site to advertisers then the Financial Times would have little choice but to follow suit.

Under the proposal, any lost subscription revenues could be recouped by a massive increase in online ads, backed by a huge expansion in readership.