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Speaking on a conference call as News Corporation announced a 47 percent slide in quarterly profits to $755 million, Murdoch said the current free access business model favored by most content providers was flawed.

"We are now in the midst of an epochal debate over the value of content and it is clear to many newspapers that the current model is malfunctioning," the News Corp. Chairman and CEO said.

"We have been at the forefront of that debate and you can confidently presume that we are leading the way in finding a model that maximizes revenues in return for our shareholders... The current days of the Internet will soon be over."

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Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

Why can't advertising on the internet provide as much revenue as advertising in the newspaper used to?

Publishing on the internet is cheaper, so with the same advertising revenues as always, why can't they make a profit?

I'm confused about the nature of the problem.

--Anthony



"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

The internet didn't invent an entitlement attitude to content. I remember spending my childhood watching free content on VHF and UHF stations.

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It's the businesses themselves that set such expectations with how they operated in the past. No surprise that people will balk at paying tomorrow for what they were receiving for free today.

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Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

This too: "people are very adept at completely ignoring net ads"

Newspapers are rife with ads from local businesses, advertising special deals and cut-out coupons. People could easily ignore these ads in a newspaper. Instead they choose to look at them.

There's no reason CNN and the New York Times couldn't have special deals and coupon areas with things relevant to your municipality, just like a real newspaper. If I was at work and trying to decide what to eat for lunch, I could pull up the adverts page and select which fast food restaurant had the best coupon. Then print and go.

It's not that they can't make money with online advertisements. It's that they aren't doing it right.

--Anthony

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I wonder how hard it would be to generate large quantities of superficially sound but in reality bogus information?

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One definite factor, is people useing pop-up blockers and such to block the ads.

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It's not that they can't make money with online advertisements. It's that they aren't doing it right.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
Sarge- Basically, what you're saying is the information belgons to the rich.

Likr justice belongs to the rich...

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Since information is readily available to anyone with an internet connection

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Originally posted by SignyM:

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Since information is readily available to anyone with an internet connection

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DUH. That's the point of the article.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
The internet has revolutionized the way we get information. All of that may come to a screeching halt, as news corporations seeks to make it a profit center.
...
Once again, profit ruins a great idea.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
Let me ask you a question: Do you know what "content" is?

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Originally posted by SignyM:
Government-funded media. Seems to work well for BBC and CBC, and to some extent NPR.

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Libertarian types often talk about government in terms of the limited set of services it should provide, with all else being off-limits. You seem to look at it from the other end of the spectrum, so I'm wondering, what at the limits of your government run paradise? What wouldn't you put government in charge of? What at the limits of your ideal system and how would you go about defining them?

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Originally posted by SignyM:
Government-funded media. Seems to work well for BBC and CBC, and to some extent NPR.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
Government-funded media. Seems to work well for BBC and CBC, and to some extent NPR.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
My ideal government? Wow, that would take pages. I'm not sure I've fully thought it out yet, but when I have time I'll give it a shot...

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what are the limits of your government run paradise? What wouldn't you put government in charge of? What are the limits of your ideal system and how would you go about defining them?

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I take it this assumes that you, or folk you approve of, will be running the government at this point, so the message the government-funded media provides will be approved and appropriate.

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I notice you didn't include Russia's government funded, and run, media in your list.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
The rich can afford Lexis Nexis searches. They can buy the insight of, and access to, TPTB. They already have channels of communication amongst themselves. The powerless- that's us- have the internet and google and access to whatever free content we can get. The so-called "free market" is NOT a panacea... it is a hurricane of money, nothing more and nothing less. EVEN IF you could raze it to the ground, it would quickly re-create a monopolistic, uneven structure. A structure which is very much at odds with the future that you envision.

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'Cause you can say that I've grown bitter,
but of this you may be sure:
The rich have got their channels
in the bedrooms of the poor.
And there's a mighty judgment coming,
but I may be wrong.

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Originally posted by SignyM:
I will try to address this later. The answers to your questions are: no, no, and no.

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Originally posted by SignyM:

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I take it this assumes that you, or folk you approve of, will be running the government at this point, so the message the government-funded media provides will be approved and appropriate.

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I guess YOU approve of corporations controlling the message?

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Originally posted by SignyM:
I guess YOU approve of corporations controlling the message? In any case both the BBC and CBC manage to avoid this.

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Maybe providing more funds to NPR - which gets high marks for objective and in-depth reporting- would be a good start.

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