Murdoch working on newspaper-sized eReader

 

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By Barry Collins and Reuters

Posted on 6 Apr 2009 at 08:20

Rupert Murdoch has revealed that News Corp is investing in a new portable device to let people read electronic versions of their daily newspapers.

The company is developing a device similar to Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader but with a larger screen for reading newspapers, Murdoch claims.

Newspapers such as the Financial Times and USA Today are working with a Californian company called Plastic Logic on a newspaper-specific reading device expected to launch early next year.

Murdoch didn't clarify if it was the same technology and the company did not return calls seeking comment.

The revelation comes as Murdoch claimed more newspapers would have to start charging people to read news on the web.

Murdoch, who bought The Wall Street Journal and its parent company Dow Jones & Co in 2007, said online advertising will not offset advertising losses in newspaper print.

"People reading news for free on the web, that's got to change," he told The Cable Show, an annual cable television industry event in Washington.

Murdoch pointed to the Journal's main rival in the US, The New York Times, as an example. The Times has one of the most popular US newspaper websites, but still cannot cover its costs with online ads, he said.

Murdoch's newspaper empire includes the New York Post, and The Times and The Sun in Britain, all of which are available online for free. The Journal had been charging for access for years before News Corp bought it.

The Journal charges readers for access to its website, which Murdoch said was "not a gold mine, but it's not bad". When he first took over the paper, News Corp and Dow Jones executives considered making the site free, but determined it would be better to keep charging for most, but not all, content.

As online ad revenue growth stumbles, and in some cases falls, publishers are being forced to rethink whether charging for access is possible, or whether readers would simply stop visiting their websites.

Murdoch also addressed concerns among newspaper publishers that search engines such as Google and Yahoo help users to find stories by aggregating links to newspapers websites and blogs - but then wrest ad dollars from them that they think should be theirs.

"The question is, should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyright... not steal, but take," said Murdoch. "Not just them but Yahoo." The Guardian made a similar argument in a submission to the Government's Digital Britain consultation last week.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt is expected to discuss this topic when he speaks at the Newspaper Association of America's annual conference in San Diego next week.