No More Free News Online: Murdoch

Future of journalism depends on paid content

(NEWSER) - Journalism has a bright future, despite the challenges of the digital age—but that future won't come for free, says Rupert Murdoch. Media companies that give people the news they want will be able to charge for it, he predicts in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal , and they'll have to: "A business model that relies primarily on online advertising cannot sustain newspapers over the long term." But the worst thing that could happen to journalism would be a government bailout. More»

Murdoch says move will wait until paywalls go up at newspaper sites

(NEWSER) - News Corp. honcho Rupert Murdoch wants to put a permanent end to “parasite” Google’s “kleptomania” when it comes to content on his newspapers’ websites. Murdoch says the Wall Street Journal and others will likely be removed from Google’s search registry “when we start charging”—that is, when planned paywalls go up, a process that has been delayed. More»

(NEWSER) - Content aggregators like Google—and yes, the humble site you’re reading now—are “parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the Internet,” Robert Thomson, editor of the Wall Street Journal, told fellow News Corp. paper the Australian last week. He warned that the “mistaken perception” that online content should be free “will be a catalyst for action, and the moment is nigh.” More»

Journal subscription plan 'not a gold mine, but it's not bad'

(NEWSER) - The New York Times ought to be charging people to read its content, and so should every other newspaper that wants to survive, Rupert Murdoch said today. “People reading news for free on the Web, that’s got to change,” the News Corp chief said at a Washington conference, Reuters reports. Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal is one of the few papers that charges for its web content. More»

Murdoch lets decision slip at World Economic Forum

(NEWSER) - Puncturing the hopes of thrifty web surfers everywhere, the Wall Street Journal will continue to charge for much of its online content, at least for now. New owner Rupert Murdoch's apparently unplanned announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos came after months of dithering over whether to keep access mostly subscriber-only, reports the New York Times. More»