PhilosophyGenius
11-25-2005, 04:25 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051125/tc_afp/britainpressindustrysectorinternetmurdoch_05112515 1009
11/25/05
LONDON (AFP) - The media magnate Rupert Murdoch predicted a gloomy future for newspapers, which he said are failing to adapt to the realities of the Internet
Murdoch, whose global business interests include leading titles in London, New York and Sydney, said the traditional press and the Internet would exist side by side "for many, many years to come."
"There will always be room for good journalism and good reporting," he told Britain's media trade journal Press Gazette, but costs had been stripped to a bare minimum.
"They have already all stripped all the costs out, now they have to depend on advertising. And that is certainly under threat," he said.
"It's not just in the US that this reliance on advertising -- particularly classified -- is proving a problem (...)
"This is a generational thing: I don't know anybody under 30 who has ever looked at a classified advertisement in a newspaper."
Murdoch's News Corp. is an umbrella company for an empire that includes the Fox studios and television operations, the London-based satellite TV company BSkyB, daily papers including The Times and The Sun in Britain, The Australian and the New York Post, and other publishing and media operations.
The magnate -- who launched a price war in Britain -- said he thought daily newspapers remained overpriced.
He was also scathing about costly promotions such as giving away DVDs -- "I personally hate this DVD craze" -- which he said inflated sales one day, but had no longer-term impact.
He appeared particularly pessimistic over the future of newspapers in the United States.
"Outside New York, it's all monopoly newspapers," Murdoch added. "Some have good work in them, but it tends to be over-written, boring and elitist, not a reflection of the general mood of the public.
"And I think you're going to find their circulations falling more than they have already have."
Murdoch said Internet development was his top priority, investing some 1.5 million dollars on websites.
It was not a panic reaction, he insisted. "It was a very careful strategy (...) if you take the number of page views in the US, we are the third biggest presence already."
11/25/05
LONDON (AFP) - The media magnate Rupert Murdoch predicted a gloomy future for newspapers, which he said are failing to adapt to the realities of the Internet
Murdoch, whose global business interests include leading titles in London, New York and Sydney, said the traditional press and the Internet would exist side by side "for many, many years to come."
"There will always be room for good journalism and good reporting," he told Britain's media trade journal Press Gazette, but costs had been stripped to a bare minimum.
"They have already all stripped all the costs out, now they have to depend on advertising. And that is certainly under threat," he said.
"It's not just in the US that this reliance on advertising -- particularly classified -- is proving a problem (...)
"This is a generational thing: I don't know anybody under 30 who has ever looked at a classified advertisement in a newspaper."
Murdoch's News Corp. is an umbrella company for an empire that includes the Fox studios and television operations, the London-based satellite TV company BSkyB, daily papers including The Times and The Sun in Britain, The Australian and the New York Post, and other publishing and media operations.
The magnate -- who launched a price war in Britain -- said he thought daily newspapers remained overpriced.
He was also scathing about costly promotions such as giving away DVDs -- "I personally hate this DVD craze" -- which he said inflated sales one day, but had no longer-term impact.
He appeared particularly pessimistic over the future of newspapers in the United States.
"Outside New York, it's all monopoly newspapers," Murdoch added. "Some have good work in them, but it tends to be over-written, boring and elitist, not a reflection of the general mood of the public.
"And I think you're going to find their circulations falling more than they have already have."
Murdoch said Internet development was his top priority, investing some 1.5 million dollars on websites.
It was not a panic reaction, he insisted. "It was a very careful strategy (...) if you take the number of page views in the US, we are the third biggest presence already."