Last week, Rupert Murdoch was making news again instead of just publishing it. It seems the days of free online news from News Corp. are numbered. After releasing the latest round of declining earnings numbers for his media colossus, Murdoch said, “Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalising its ability to produce good reporting. The digital revolution has opened many and new inexpensive distribution channels, but it has not made content free. We intend to charge for all our news websites.”
You can still get the full story for free compliments of News Corp.’s News.com.au (and about 25,000 other links on Google).
It didn’t take long for Fairfax, News Corp.’s principal news competitor here in Australia, to join Murdoch in the walled-off content garden. In a Sunday Age article, Fairfax Chief executive Brian McCarthy said charging for online content was inevitable. ''Monetisation will have to happen, because without monetisation…we can't afford to keep the big newsroom staffs we have,'' he said.
Australia’s leading media broker and sage Harold Mitchell also joined the fray. The title of his article in today’s Age neatly sums up his message: One way or another, we’ll all be paying.
But will Australians pay for something they can get for free? That’s the “to be or not to be” question for journalism in Australia (and worldwide). On the evidence, my guess is no.
Australians aren’t big print publication subscribers.
Nielsen reports that, “Australia has one of the world's highest per capita rates of consumer magazine sales…[but] the vast majority of Australian consumer magazine sales are made at retail level rather than through subscription. Newsstand (newsagent, supermarket and other retail) sales account for approximately 90% of all magazine sales in Australia.”
If Australians aren’t big print subscribers, how many will make the move online? Will they be happy to pay for online news by the day or article? Unless the 'a la carte' payment process is made a lot simpler than it is today, it seems an unlikely proposition.
Australians aren’t big pay TV subscribers.
Only about 30% of Aussies subscribe to cable or satellite TV. That’s about half as many as Britain (55%) and one-third as many as the US (90%) according to The Australian.
There’s heaps of fantastic content on Foxtel. You can get up to 150 channels. But most Australians seem perfectly happy to stick with their limited free-to-air options.
Australians love getting content for nothing (even if we have to steal it).
This past October, the Age reported on a study from The Australian Institute of Criminology about Australia’s explosion in online piracy. “Per capita, we have become the most prolific downloaders of television contraband from the internet” according to the report.
It’s become a status symbol here to have the most recent episodes of House, Entourage or other U.S. shows as they’re aired overseas. Internet time doesn’t wait for international network licensing negotiations.
Our downloading stats are even more impressive when you consider how bandwidth-constrained and expensive broadband can be in Australia. When Rudd’s fibre to the home network puts us on par with countries like South Korea, the idea of a TV “schedule” will be increasingly quaint.
We’re already paying for the news.
Even though Fairfax and News Corp. have a near duopoly on newspaper publishing here, the taxpayer-supported ABC news website is always just a click away. Its commitment to providing quality journalism (especially local journalism) is likely to increase as for-profit publishers focus on niche markets which can be “monetised”.
Taxpayers could also help foot the bill if quality journalism moves to the non-profit sphere, following the model of the U.K.’s Guardian, which is run by a charitable trust.
What’s bad news for newspapers is good for other businesses.
Newspaper publishers are telling us the rules of the game will change: free content is undermining their long-term health. But that’s not likely to slow down the rest of the web. Even if newspaper sites wall themselves off, the number of sites where high-quality, free content is available is likely to grow.
For businesses in other industries, it means there are new opportunities to step in where traditional publishers are bowing out. People will always be interested in the kind of content that newspaper sites provide, whether it’s an opinion piece or a cake recipe.
On the Internet, quality content is a growth industry, no matter what industry you’re in.