The big story this week was Rupert Murdoch’s declaration of war against free online news. His trumpet echoed around similar comments made by Fairfax chief executive Brian McCarthy who threatened the Australian citizenry with further cuts to newsrooms if we don’t start paying him somehow.
Once foes, now allies bound by a common threat. You, you greedy news-thieving sonofabitch.
And, a thought occurs, let us hope that they do form pay walls. There would be nothing sweeter for a public service website like NewsWire if barriers were put up around our regional rivals at the Dominion Post and their website Stuff.co.nz.
This is of course the great fear of Murdoch, McCarthy and their mogul cohorts, that the stingy and persistent internet user who meets an ‘insert credit card number here’ at the end of a google search will keep searching until they find something free.
And certainly, if internet porn has taught us anything, they will. But both Murdoch and McCarthy would be wise to remember that the internet did not kill off the porn industry in San Fernando valley, and chances are in this brave new world there will be room for both pay and free internet news.
It may just mean that pay sites will have to be more inventive to compete with the amateur with a webcam.
Posted by Dan 
