The outcome of Murdoch’s paywall experiment with the Times will have a huge impact on journalism. I have spent a lot of time changing my mind about whether Murdoch is a genius or has lost touch with modern media. Finally, the paywall is here.
Today Murdoch was full of praise for tablets and, inparticular, Apple’s iPad, stating that they are ‘a perfect platform’ to read news on. This is true and it is almost certainly the future for most newspapers once the paper format is extinct. The Guardian iPhone and iPad app is one of the best examples of this.
This leads me to think that Murdoch is actually very clever. He does understand modern marketing and the internet. He also understands business and the need to make money. While many journalists and newspaper owners are happy to watch and hope that it works, Murdoch is busy actually doing it. For someone who had the foresight to be the first to enter the satellite television market with just a few thousand viewers, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to forming future trends.
For more analysis of the data and how it’s going read this: http://www.beehivecity.com/newspapers/times-paywall-more-analysis-of-the-data191807/
