WSJ: Washington Post will launch a paywall in 2013, and raise newsstand paper price

The Washington Post is one of the last great old print newspapers to not charge readers for online access, but not for long.

The Wall Street Journal today reports that "while details are being finished, people familiar with the matter said that a metered paywall—meaning a website that allows casual readers to read a certain number of stories free before charging a subscription fee — is likely to be rolled out in 2013, along with increases to the print newspaper's newsstand price."

The WSJ.com story is behind a paywall, natch.

In related news, The Daily Beast, which recently merged with Newsweek, is also considering a paywall.

The media company was founded by Tina Brown and is backed by billionaire Barry Diller.

The Post, the Beast, and Newsweek are all drowning in red ink.

The division of Diller's IAC that includes the Daily Beast lost $13.2 million last quarter. Newsroom employees there and at Newsweek newsrooms will lose their jobs today. Newsweek "was on track to lose $22 million this year before plans to close the print edition were announced," according to Bloomberg.

The Post's newspaper division reported an operating loss of $56.3 million for the first nine months of 2012, which amounts to a 14% drop in revenue.