Newspapers: the effect of online technology

1)  I do not completely agree with James Murdoch stating that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online, I understand the point Murdoch is trying to put across in attempting to preserve the future of journalism, and I do agree that journalists should get paid in some form. However, I do not believe that all news organisations will ask their users to pay for the news as the news industry is vast and each have their own agendas and also audiences. If all news was to be paid for, only those of the AB and possible C1 socio-economic groups would be able to afford to get their news, and we all have a right to know about what is going on in the world. The BBC is also in some form paid for through the TV license so it is not ultimately free. Furthermore, NewsCorp is profit driven whereas the BBC isn't, it is more neutral in terms of the news it puts out and although there could always be the chances of the government sponsoring the sort of jourrnalism that is put out as Murdoch claims, it is highly unlikely. 

3) I believe that Rupert Murdoch was right in putting his news content behind a paywall as content needs to be paid for to be of top quality, and it has proven to be successful. The Times and The Sunday Times have amassed a total of 140,000 paying digital subscribers and now have more paying customers than they did on 2 July 2010, which is regarded by News UK executives as the true marker of success. The paywall provides a "sustainable profitability" as a reliance on advertising revenue and profit from other sources will only cause more harm than good in the long term. The Times has a reliable and loyal audience as it is a middle-class/upper-class newspaper so convincing people to "pay for news" has not had a significantly negative impact on News Uk.

4) In favour of the paywall: The Times, more than any other paper, is more ready for a printless future, should it arise, as they just need to migrate users, in relatively low numbers. to the digital subscription. And it is having an almighty practice run to get it right. It doesn't need to create vast volumes of (crap) content that the Mail does and it has a very strong brand argument to Ad buyers. 

Against the paywall: The Times has zero web presence. Whats the point of existing in the 21st century without one? I never hear or read anything from the newspaper, because nobody can share what it publishes.

As much as I do agree with The Times having a strong brand image and being ready for a future that does not rely on print revenue, I believe that the paywall is also having a negative impact. I believe that it is true that The Times has almost a non-existent presence on the web, and this will have an impact on mitigating users. The majority of users will get their sources of news from from news-aggregation sites such as google, and if not they will opt for free news, only those of the middle/upper classes who are of the slightly older generation will pay a subscription for The Times, and they are a minority.

6) The Evening Standard has bucked the trend and has increased in circulation and profit in the last two years because of the fact that they distribute their newspapers to the public for free. Doing so during times such as the rush hour means that the newspaper can have a greater reach, and the fact that the Standard also announced it was expanding its distribution from around 700,000 copies a day to closer to 900,000, explains the 27 percent increase in circulation recorded by the ABC as their news is being distributed even further.

7) I believe that the newspaper industry will eventually die out as the years go by as majority of the newspapers are now adapting to demands for news online and closing down their print news i.e. The Independent and I believe many newspapers will follow. This is not surprising as millennial natives base the majority of their new intake from the digital world, and it is those of the older generation who prefer to get their news through print, and even they are switching to online news. Despite the fact that newspapers are however also adapting in terms of print from (Evening Standard distributing their news for free), many will prefer to get their news from their devices as these devices have now incorporated TV and newspapers into one through convergence.