Tag Archives: Rupert Murdoch

FollowtheMedia: Murdoch and Berlusconi in a battle of the media titans

‘One of life’s great joys is watching two media barons battle it out using all the weapons at their command,’ comments Philip Stone in a comprehensive piece on FollowtheMedia. While it’s not a new rivalry, Stone says that Berlusconi understands it was a ‘big business mistake to have allowed Murdoch to step on Italian soil,’ with Sky Italia.

An extract:

“While the international media has been dishing out some really low blows editorially against Berlusconi for the past few days it is Murdoch’s Times of London that called in a professor of classics at Cambridge University to compare the Italian Prime Minister with the Roman Emperor Tiberius – known for his sexual frolics – and then followed that up with a really vicious editorial with verbiage that more properly belongs in his tabloid Sun or News of the World than it does in the august(us) Times of London.”

Full story at this link…

FT.com: WSJ to introduce micropayments

The Wall Street Journal is planning to bring in a micropayment system for individual articles and premium subscriptions on its website, according to Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief.

The pricing structure will be ‘rightfully high’, according to Thomson.

Last week Rupert Murdoch, News Corp chairman, said he was now convinced it was possible for newspapers to charge for content online given the success of the WSJ’s existing model.

Full article at this link…

Crikey.com.au: ‘Who reads a newspaper website the way they used to read a paper?’

Guy Rundle, over at Crikey.com.au, tells Rupert that no, he’s not prepared to pay for News Corp. content.

“Paying for a physical newspaper is/was something you just did, even five years ago. Now, the idea that your morning’s news would come encased in a single source seems odd – and paying for straight news items on the web (as opposed to the excellent goulash of punch and pugilistic your reading now etc) seems absurd. Who reads a newspaper website, the way they used to read a paper?”

Full post at this link…

FT.com: Murdoch considers charging for online news, developing e-reader

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch is now convinced that ‘it is possible to charge for content’ online given the success of paid-for business news on the Wall Street Journal, he said last night.

Any pay model would be tested on one of the group’s stronger titles, he added.

Murdoch also described Newsgroup’s interest in developing its own e-reading or digital paper device.

At the FIPP World Magazine Congress this week Guardian Media Group’s Carolyn McCall suggested Guardian.co.uk could also start charging for specialist areas of the site.

Full post at this link…

Columbia Journalism Review: Identity crisis at the Wall Street Journal?

Liza Featherstone takes a look at working relationships and attitudes at the Wall Street Journal, since it was sold to Rupert Murdoch in 2007, for the Columbia Journalism Review.

“At the Journal’s offices in lower Manhattan, just about everyone is grateful that the new owner has deep pockets and is willing to invest in reporting – both rare commodities in the industry these days. Yet there are reasons to fear that in the midst of a global financial crisis, arguably the biggest test a business newspaper could face, with greater demand for high-quality journalism on finance and the economy than at anytime in decades, the Journal is abandoning values that have long distinguished it: a commitment to deep reporting and elegant writing.”

Full post at this link…

Wordle: Rupert Murdoch’s optimism for print future

Rupert Murdoch gives the preface to this year’s World Association of Newspapers (WAN) Innovations in Newspapers 2009 World Report.

Below is a Wordle of Murdoch’s comments (as quoted in a WAN release), in which he said readership would grow for news consumption across print, social media and online outlets.

Wordle of Rupert Murdoch's comments in the World Association of Newspapers' annual survey

paidContent:UK: News Corp forms global editorial hub

News Corp is ‘setting up a new unit designed to share content’ from all of the company’s global sources, reports paidContent.

“The News Corp editorial portal will be headed by John Moody, who has been EVP for News Editorial at Fox News. Moody will report directly to Murdoch.”

Full story at this link…

NYTimes.com: Rupert Murdoch’s fondness for newspapers ‘has become a significant drag’ for News Corp

Rupert Murdoch has his own office at the Wall Street Journal, built within days of buying it, comments the New York Times. He is ‘as much old-fashioned press baron as 21st century multimedia mogul,’ the piece continues. “But, he faces a depressing reality: his lifelong fondness for newspapers has become a significant drag on the fortunes of his company, the News Corporation.”

Full story at this link…

Telegraph.co.uk: News Corp loss of £4.4bn will lead to job cuts

News Corporation has posted losses of £4.4 billion for the last quarter of 2008. Rupert Murdoch has warned of job cuts with losses at News Corp’s UK newspapers expected to be announced next week.

Full story at this link…

Followthemedia.com: Rupert needs to think about his mortality after News Corp shares fall

In a brief aside on its site, FollowtheMedia comments that News Corps shares are down 20 per cent since New Years Eve, and then remarks that Rupert Murdoch should probably think about his mortality:

“There’s a big family celebration in Australia next month to honor his mother’s 100th birthday and all the talk now is that the 77 year-old former Australian now needs to get his corporate house in order and name a successor.”

Full story…