SteveJ-restore-test

Does Rupert Murdoch know something the rest of us don't? The recent news is that News Ltd would start charging for on-line access to its newspapers. Not a good idea. Experienced Journalist & commentator, Alan Kohler also thinks so ... First, Rupert is not in the business of selling 'news', quality journalism or not. He sells Advertising . Just like Google and friends. But apparently not nearly as well as they do on-line. There are people who sell 'news', and they are going strong. Organisations like Reuters, Associated Press, Bloomberg, AAP, ... The wire-services. The same ones that sell to Google, businesses, TV and Mr Murdoch's newspapers. News Ltd doesn't sell journalistic content (news): like every major newspaper, it has always given away its content. Exactly the same as Free-to-Air radio and TV. The "value proposition" to most newspaper customers, News & Stories, is a Free Good. Major papers actually cost their publishers to sell...

The News Broadsheet was a pivotal element of the 1776 American Revolution, eventually becoming enshrined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Newspapers were integral to the Twentieth Century rise and evolution of Western Democracies. Without "frank and fearless" reporting (and an engaged electorate), governments can quickly spiral out of control. We're now 15+ years into the "Internet Revolution", so where are Newspapers in their journey on-line? Significantly, nobody seems to have discovered a "secret sauce" to generally monetise News and the work of Journalists in the way that Amazon and Google etc have monetised books and on-line ads. Those who make money from writing seem to do so from direct subscriptions - the on-line form of "newsletters". In my first job , there was a direct and obvious connection between the 5g +/- 0.01g of sugar being analysed and 'the business': Our analyses determined payments for 500 or 1,00...