Media will continue to provide free content and access on the Internet, although some believe there is a way for new media users to pay for access, said Jeffrey Gralnick, an NBC News special consultant,?in Beijing?on Friday.

"While some will disagree, I am convinced the web has become so democratized that it is expected that content and access to it will be free," said Gralnick at the World Media Summit.

Some media made a profit from websites, but many others failed despite heavy investment.

Gralnick said that the "free strategy" requires a marriage of strong brands, the use of smart technology, production of and repurposing of smart user-useful content, and then a multi-platform push to achieve scale that turns pennies into dollars.

He said msnbc.com, a leading news website in the United States, is free for its users. However, it has more than a billion page views a month now, all producing revenue, and more than 150-million video streams each month, mostly preceded by pre-rolls.

About 300 representatives from more than 170 media outlets from around the globe gathered in Beijing Friday to discuss the seismic shifts and challenges in the industry at the World Media Summit.