Murdoch: free news website era ‘will soon be over’

The chief executive of News Corporation, who some fifteen years ago said the future of newspaper revenue was in advertising not in the cover prices, has suggested that his newspapers will soon charge for the use of their websites.

He said: “We are now in the midst of an epochal debate on the value of content and it is clear to many newspapers that the current model is malfunctioning.

“We have been at the forefront of that debate and you can confidently presume that we are leading the way in finding a model that maximises revenues in return for our shareholders. The current days of the internet will soon be over.”

Murdoch has always been a trendsetter for the industry, almost single-handedly keeping the cost of newspapers down for the best part of 20 years.

It is possible that the rest of the newspaper industry will follow suit and charge for access, however, it is a risky model if other publications continue to offer their news free of charge.

Murdoch made the claim in the aftermath of the publication of News Corporation’s financial results for the third quarter of 2009.

News Corporation’s newspaper and information services took a massive hit in the third quarter, dropping US$209 million (A$272m) to US$7m based on the 2007 figures for the same period.

Like the rest of the newspaper industry, News Corporation has put this loss down to lower advertising revenue.

Read the original article at www.printweek.com.

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