The Times of London put up its own paywall in 2010
The journalism in both titles still largely relies on the efforts of journalists whose employment is thanks to the success of the printed product - sales of which, like most other newspapers, are in decline.
Perhaps most disastrously, Johnston Press, one of the UK's largest newspaper groups, attempted to put some of its local newspapers behind pay walls in 2009 - only for the experiment to wither and die a few months later.
Their paying subscribers, it was reported, numbered in the tens.
Turn off
So far, so disheartening. But why? It may seem obvious, but Jakob Nielsen, one of the world's leading experts on usability, believes it is not just about money.
"Having a registration screen, even for free, turns the vast majority of people off," he says.
"It's not just a matter of monetary cost, it's also a matter of the 'interaction cost'. You have to add those two together. What is the extra hassle for the user?
"The interaction cost of setting up a new account; not just time, but also the thinking - the pondering over 'should I really do this?' or 'is it safe to use this system I've never heard of?' and so forth.
"That's all a huge amount of overhead for the user."
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