News Corporation print media legend Rupert Murdoch is embracing a new format for his next project. The endeavor will be a national newspaper developed exclusively for viewing on the iPad and mobile telephone devices. Though it seems a very worthy endeavor, it is also very risky because it will include only paid content.
Mr. Murdoch’s intention is to attract a younger age group of readers to his news using a digital platform. Based on the status of the media industry, it may be something that is destined to fail. When the daily newspaper The Times began offering an online version featuring paid content, 66 percent of its readership fled. In these difficult economic times, it seems that the last thing readers want to do is pay for their news content.
Beneath the surface of this seemingly innovative move are the facts regarding the format of the forthcoming e-newspaper. The LA Times reports that it will provide “short, snappy stories that could be digested quickly.” That sounds a lot like a blog, one that readers will need to pay for, at that. Things are getting more risky by the minute based on this additional information.
If this new newspaper develops the excellent reputation of the other News Corporation publications such as the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, things may actually turn out positively. A name for this latest publication has not yet been determined, so no marketing dollars have been used to promote it. The media is not very optimistic that this e-newspaper will survive for long but they have been known to sometimes be wrong.
At least Mr. Murdoch is making an effort to have his company embrace the world of digital media. There is nothing worse than an organization that sticks its head in the sand while everyone else moves to a new way of doing things. As reports circulate regarding the impending death of the print media industry, this 79-year old is reinventing the way things are done.
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