Murdoch: Papers Need to Charge for Web Access

The New York Times ought to be charging people to read its content, and so should every other newspaper that wants to survive, Rupert Murdoch said today. “People reading news for free on the Web, that’s got to change,” the News Corp chief said at a Washington conference, Reuters reports. Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal is one of the few papers that charges for its web content.

Murdoch said the Journal's set-up is “not a gold mine, but it’s not bad.” The paper was charging for access before Murdoch bought it, and he briefly considered making it free but decided not to. The Times, by contrast, abandoned its “TimesSelect” subscription service when it determined that ads generated more revenue. (More Rupert Murdoch stories.)