Pay walls are coming to Newsday, cutting off those who read the newspaper for free online.

Long Island’s lone daily, Newsday, now owned by Cablevision, plans to stop providing free Web content and in the coming months may charge for access to its online edition, although details remain sketchy. The Melville-based newspaper would be one of the first of its size in the nation to adopt this approach since the failed attempt by The New York Times in 2005, which was reversed after two years. The San Francisco Chronicle announced plans this week to also charge for Web content.

The newspaper could go the way of Cablevision’s other news outlet, News12, which allows only Cablevision subscribers to access the website, as the Long Island cable company has indicated a desire to integrate their newest acquisition, Newsday, with its other holdings, like merging auto classified ads into Optimum Autos. Optimum is Cablevision’s digital cable service. While the move is in line with what the parent company promised when it bought the paper in July of 2008, some are worried that the Island is being done a disservice. And with the debate heating up over how to keep newspapers in business, the announcement comes at a time when observers will be watching closely to see if the plan works.

“We plan to end the distribution of free Web content and make our news gathering capabilities a service for our customers,” said Cablevision Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge in a conference call with analysts on Thurs., Feb. 26. He added that the goal is to “transform the way news is distributed” using network assets and subscriber relationships.

That disclosure prompted a statement from Newsday Publisher Tim Knight the same day. “We are in the process of transforming Newsday’s website into an enhanced, locally focused cable service that we believe will become an important benefit for Newsday and Cablevision customers,” Knight said. “More particulars will be forthcoming over the next few months,” he added.

Critics were quick to offer their opinion of the plan. “If Cablevision honestly believes that charging a Web subscriber fee is going to significantly impact their profit margins then they are really in for a shocker,” said Kevin Kamen, a media appraiser and president of Baldwin-based Kamen & Co. Group Services. “If anything, millions less will visit their website and readers will seek other alternatives to fill their appetite for local news,” he said.

Newsday did not return calls seeking comment and a Cablevision spokeswoman could not elaborate on the statements. The announcement came a month after Cablevision brass and top Newsday editor John Mancini butted heads, reportedly over coverage of the Knicks, which Cablevision also owns. Cablevision paid $650 million for the paper last year, but as a result of weak advertising sales and circulation, recently wrote down the paper’s value $404 million.

The only major newspapers that charge for access to their Web sites are the niche Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Several local weekly newspaper publishers on LI only allow subscribers to have access to their websites. The intention is to stem circulation declines resulting from when readers forgo buying the paper because they can get the same news for free online.

Compounding the problem are sharp declines in newspaper advertising revenue industry-wide that resulted in newspapers downsizing or ceasing publication in recent years with the pace of that trend increasing as the current recession deepens. A debate over how best to address the problem has been gathering steam, with a common suggestion being the iTunes approach of paying per article, although that has met resistance. A local media watchdog agreed that this method and Newsday’s are not the solution.

“The larger issue here is Newsday isn’t producing enough local content to be viewed as valuable by the reader—so valuable the reader will pay for it,” says Jaci Clement, executive director of the Fair Media Council, an organization that advocates for improved press relations, adding that consolidating has exacerbated the problem. “News12 and Newsday are currently working together on the ‘Hard Times’ series. It’s the beginning of the end of two separate voices.

“The plan will follow the News12 marketing plan: You need cable and Internet to get the news,” Clement says. “That will mean a blackout of widely distributed news if you’re not a subscriber. I don’t expect that threat will alter consumer behavior. What I do see happening—and hope will happen—is that community weekly newspapers grow, and become the vital source for local information.”

Of course, for that to happen, not only will advertisers and publishers have to reinvest, but readers will have to support them.

Follow the author on Twitter!

1. Verizon Launches Local News Channel on L.I.
2. The Salvation of Newspapers
3. Babylon’s Free WiFi Gives New Surfing Option to Beach Goers
4. Hosing Down Green Street
5. Interview