About two dozen newspaper industry executives huddled Thursday to explore how they might be able to boost profits from their online operations as revenue from their print editions collapses.

The meeting at a Chicago hotel is the latest indication that many newspapers intend to become more aggressive about protecting their Internet content and, in some cases, charging Web surfers to read the material.

By changing the way they do business online, newspaper publishers are hoping they can stop the financial hemorrhaging that already has resulted in massive layoffs, huge losses and at least seven filings for bankruptcy protection since December.

Thursday's meeting was called "Models to Lawfully Monetize Content," according to an agenda obtained by The Associated Press.

The session included presentations by Attributor Inc., a Silicon Valley company that specializes in identifying online copyright violations, and Journalism Online, a startup that hopes to collect Internet fees on behalf of participating newspapers.