It seems like ever since the New York Times made the announcement that it is considering charging $5.00 for online subscriptions, other media outlets have come forward with their plans to do the same. I, for one, don’t mind paying for an online subscription for my favorite publications and the consensus from my online friends (my Tweople) has been the same. We see the negative effects that free online content has on the media industry and it is devastating. Some of my friends were sad to see Vibe magazine close shop, but I almost snapped when they told me they don’t even subscribe to the magazine.

I am a loyal fan of the brands and media outlets that I subscribed to whether it is the online or print version. If those sources were to start charging for web content, I don’t have a problem with paying. Lesson one in economics, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” I can, however, predict future problems. With the internet, there is always an issue with network sharing. One can subscribe to the Times, for example, and then copy and paste the article to a blog to provide free content to readers. It’s a vicious cycle and you have to wonder at what point does the media outlets gain better control of their online content. A journalist once told me, if I can figure out a way for media companies to make money online, I would be a millionaire. I think about finding a solution everyday. But, I say, if someone can figure a way to stop users from saving, copying and pasting content from online sources, that person will rule the world. Media outlets charging for online content is a move in the right direction, only if they can figure a way to keep content from flowing freely.

Here is a look at some of the online media sites that will charge or are already charging for online content that was once free:

NY Times May charge $5.00 for online content.

A South Texas newspaper, Valley Morning Star, says it will begin charging for access to its Web site this week.

Philly.com will probably start charging for content by the end of 2009, its owner Brian Tierney told Fox 29, a local Fox TV affiliate, on its ‘Good Day Philadelphia’ show.

MediaNews who owns The Denver Post and The Detroit News said it will stop reproducing all its print content online, meaning that some stories will only appear in the newspapers. Second, online content will be crafted to reach a younger audience; and third, online users who are not subscribed to the print edition will be required to register and pay a fee to read stories online.

Pandora founder Tim Westergren wrote in a blog post that customers will be charged $1 if they stream more than 40 hours of radio a month. While the revised royalties were “quite high,” the new charges would probably only affect 10% of Pandora listeners.

Reuters reports, The Newport Daily News, a 14,000-circulation paper in Rhode Island, charges $345 a year for an online subscription to a page-for-page digital replica of the print edition. A year’s subscription to the print paper is only $145. And that’s the whole idea: If everyone’s reading your online paper for free, charge them so much that the paper looks cheap by comparison. Now, that’s a bargain.

Time Inc. publications including SI.com, Time.com, CNNMoney.com and EW.com will experiment with mixing paid and free content in the next six months.

Rupert ­Murdoch expects to start charging for access to News Corporation’s newspaper websites within a year as he strives to fix a ­”malfunctioning” business model.