2 June 2009

Murdoch thinks newspapers will go digital --and won't be free on the Web

Rupert Murdoch should know -- it costs money to produce news and content. Why should newspapers give it for free--especially when the Web is what is putting them into trouble?
Here is the baron telling us how things should move--or the way he sees them moving.

5 comments:

Sumit said...

Madhavan,

I think the baron is wrong here. He says -

"you're going to have to pay for your favorite newspaper on the Web."

However, readers don't have favorite newspapers anymore, they have favorite people and experts that they follow via RSS, or twitter. They read individual articles that have been shared with them through emails / twitter / facebook.

The future of news will be down to the value of each individual article. And harsh that may seem, it presents an unprecedented opportunity for people who can write well.

Madhavan said...

I agree with you, Sumit, but Murdoch is not speaking of newspaper vs newspaper but the question of pricing content on the Web. Experts may provide links to articles but only if they can access them in the first place!

Sumit said...

Hmm.......The internet users have been spoilt rotten. They have been getting news content for free, and its going to be very tough to start charging them. Besides, even if one source like WSJ decides to start charging, other sources like FT, NYT, etc don't have to follow the lead. So a big part of the challenge is aligning all major players. The Newspaper industry needs a Steve Jobs of its own!

BTW, I read your article related to search as well. Would love to hear your thoughts on this one:
www.whysearchalone.com/blog

Madhavan said...

Nothing comes free forever. If one newspaper goes pay, the other can't offer it free unless it can find ways to subsidise things. I know as a journo that reportage involves high costs. If advertisers don't bite, things will have go to pay.

Madhavan said...

Nothing comes free forever. If one newspaper goes pay, the other can't offer it free unless it can find ways to subsidise things. I know as a journo that reportage involves high costs. If advertisers don't bite, things will have go to pay.