Mr.
Matt
Spangler

Rupert Leads They Way

This past week Rupert Murdoch came out publicly and stated that he plans to “charge for all his news services by next summer”.   I think people who work in the news business across the country breathed a collective sigh of relief. In the wake of Chris Anderson’s “Free” diatribes and the public skewering of his theories by journalists like Malcolm Gladwell, this comes at the perfect time for an industry that is having a serious crisis of self.

Whether or not this will work is an entirely different thing all together but drawing this kind of line in the sand is exactly what the industry required.  Someone had to have the balls to say enough is enough, I’m willing to put my reputation and company on the line to take this bold step.

Of course, before we give ole Rupert a medal of honor, we have to remember that old adage that people won’t change unless they are forced too.  People won’t drive less unless gas prices are astronomical, and Rupert wasn’t willing to make this bold change until he experienced a 3.4 billion dollar net loss at News Corporation for the financial year to June.

The bigger question is can the other entities wait long enough to see the repercussions of this move?  It will likely not be until 2011 before the reports are back on its effect for News Corp, and that is too long for the rest of the major players to wait and see. Companies like the New York Times need to make the move now to charge for something that has great value and by doing so force the hand of public perception.

Writer vs. Writer

Priced to Sell is a pretty outstanding rebuttal to Chris Anderson’s book Free.  After being skewered by Malcolm Gladwell, Anderson’s book comes off as pithy, without a legitimate thesis, and all together not worth the paper its printed on.

Count this round for Gladwell. I’d like to see if Anderson has a response.