Murdoch announces online news fee
Rupert Murdoch, owner of global media company
News Corporation, has said he plans to charge users to access all news websites by summer, 2010.
The media tycoon said the company would begin asking users to pay for content on websites such as the Times, the Sun and the News of the World.
"Quality journalism is not cheap," he said. "The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free. We intend to charge for all our news websites."
Murdoch’s comments come as his company News Corporation revealed a $4.4 billion net loss for the financial year to June. The business, along with other print publishers, has suffered from a substantial decrease in advertising revenue over the past 18 months.
Murdoch added: “The past year has been the most difficult in recent history, and our 2009 financial performance clearly reflects the weak economic environment that we confronted throughout the year.”
Murdoch confident of success
The media tycoon is confident of the success of the move. The Wall Street Journal – also owned by News Corp – is one of the few online newspapers which charges a fee for access stories online.
"I believe that if we're successful, we'll be followed fast by other media,” he said. “We're certainly satisfied that we can produce significant revenues from the sale of digital delivery of newspaper content.”
Murdoch stated that News Corp would succeed by making its content better than other sites. He cited the recent MP’s expenses story as an example of content users would be willing to pay for.
