Brekkie Crumbs - Notes from the NewsRadio Breakfast team (Thursday)
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Mark - Breakfast EP …..
The boss is right.
You’d expect me to say that, wouldn’t you?
But it’s absolutely true.
Last night, ABC supremo Mark Scott talked about how traditional big media companies like News Limited are deluding themselves if they think people will pay to read their online content.
That was one of the main messages in a speech in Melbourne on the future of media, in which Scott took a few choice pot shots at News Limited’s Rupert Murdoch, portraying him as an emperor losing control of an ever-changing empire.
“Believing that because you once set the rules, you can do so again, acting on the assumption that you still have the power that befits the emperor”, said the boss.
What’s got Mark Scott fired up, apparently, is an extraordinary speech in Beijing last week by Rupert Murdoch, in which he attacked bloggers and sites like Google, saying they shouldn’t be able to use his company’s news for free. “The philistine phase of the digital age is almost over. The aggregators and plagiarists will soon have to pay a price for the co-opting of our content.”
Really?
Well, I guess no-one will be reading much stuff from News Limited any more.
It’s extraordinary that in the “Information Age”, one of the world’s biggest information providers is becoming reluctant to provide…errrr…information.
For example, presumably an “aggregator and plagiarist” like me will no longer be able to say “Have a look at this great piece in today’s The Australian on the future of new media”, as the interested reader will click the supplied link on to receive the message: “ERROR! You need to subscribe to this publication and log-in, in order to read this article.”
One of the few people ever to make a buck out of purely on-line editorial material is Eric Beecher, publisher of crikey.com and the business site, Eureka Report.
“I think it’s very difficult to give your content away on-line — or in any form for that matter — for a long, long time, and then suddenly flip the switch and say “now you’ve got to pay”, he told Marius Benson on ABC NewsRadio Breakfast this morning.
“I don’t think there’s any journalism that Rupert Murdoch’s organisation publishes on-line now that’s free, that they’ll be able to charge for in its own right. Now they might be able to package it up with all sorts of bells and whistles, and discount offers and free movies and wine, and all sorts of things like that, and get some people to pay for that…but the pure journalism? I don’t think there’s any chance of that at all.”
Wine? Good grief!
Eric Beecher told Marius people are really only willing to pay for high-quality on-line FINANCIAL journalism.
Why? Because they think it will give them an edge in making a buck.
“It works in financial journalism because the value of the journalism can be measured in terms of a financial result, but it’s not working much anywhere else”.
So how does crikey make a buck?
“We have a daily newsletter of about 25 stories a day, but it’s not commoditised news, it’s the sort of “insider” information that people in politics and so on need.”
I guess, under Rupert Murdoch’s definition, I’m plagiarising Marius’ interview with Eric Beecher to make a point in my blog.
I also wonder if he’s going to charge for all those stories in the Oz I see each morning that are clearly follow-ups from the previous day’s crikey?
Ouch!
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Glen - Presenter:
And speaking of news delivery - online & otherwise - look here ( while you still can!) to read how you can get personalised news delivered to your door ( Old fashioned? Wait , there’s a twist.. )
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26207945-23109,00.html
Maybe that’s a business model Mr. Murdoch should consider….!
