Derrick
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Rupert Murdoch, the founder of News Corporation and a powerful figure in the newspaper business, has decided to move his online publications to a subscription-based model within a year.
This means readers wanting to access News Corp’s online content will have to pay.
This new move from the news paper giant goes against the grain of “the Internet must be free”.
Murdoch cites the success of the Wall Street Journal, which charges readers a fee to access their content, as evidence that it can work.
News Corporation has felt the pinch with the economic downturn as advertising revenues from print and television shrank resulting in a quarterly operating profits slump of 47%.
Murdoch is feeling the heat and has chosen to point the finger at what he believes is a ‘malfunctioning’ business model.
Whilst this may turn out to be the saving grace of the online newspaper industry it will require a dramatic shift in the way people view online content.
The bottom line is that people do not want to pay for something that is as intangible as an online news story. There are also plenty of competitors out there who are more than willing to supply free content.
For this to work Murdoch will have to offer readers something special and unique that is not freely available somewhere else. Somewhere like Google News.
This means readers wanting to access News Corp’s online content will have to pay.
This new move from the news paper giant goes against the grain of “the Internet must be free”.
Murdoch cites the success of the Wall Street Journal, which charges readers a fee to access their content, as evidence that it can work.
News Corporation has felt the pinch with the economic downturn as advertising revenues from print and television shrank resulting in a quarterly operating profits slump of 47%.
Murdoch is feeling the heat and has chosen to point the finger at what he believes is a ‘malfunctioning’ business model.
Whilst this may turn out to be the saving grace of the online newspaper industry it will require a dramatic shift in the way people view online content.
The bottom line is that people do not want to pay for something that is as intangible as an online news story. There are also plenty of competitors out there who are more than willing to supply free content.
For this to work Murdoch will have to offer readers something special and unique that is not freely available somewhere else. Somewhere like Google News.