The AP's senior vice president for global newspaper markets Tom Brettingen said the plan will “offer U.S. newspapers more flexibility in accessing and using news of local interest that may originate in other regions,” an E&P article stated.

The plan will be effective beginning Jan. 1, 2009. The basic assessment expenses charged to newspapers will be still based on circulation.

AP estimated most of its members would end up paying less or see no changes. According to Brettingen, the changes are expected to cause $6 million to $7 million less annual revenue for the news agency, a shortfall which should be compensated from growth in other areas, such as video and online sales.

"It's an amount we believe we can swallow, and clearly it would be beneficial to the industry during challenging times to have a little bit less to pay us," he added.

Earlier in May, AP CEO Tom Curley noted in a speech that some member newspapers would rather not pay for news they don't use.

Many newspaper publishers are seeking for ways to reduce costs to make up the chronic downturn in advertising. In the past two weeks, several U.S. newspaper companies reported flopping ad revenues for the third quarter.

AP didn't raise the basic rate for its members in 2007, and will do the same next year.

As of the end of 2006, nearly 30 percent of AP’s revenue came from U.S. newspapers and another 15 percent from online commercial sales, the fastest-growing segment of the AP's business, according to a company spokesman.

Last year, AP’s net income dropped 28.5 percent to $13.3 million as revenues increased 3.9 percent to $679.8 million.

The new plan, called Member Choice, will affect only newspapers. The company said broadcast and online members should also benefit from the changes, though programmes for those customers are still being worked out.