Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire head of a global media empire that includes the Wall Street Journal, FOX Broadcasting Company and London’s The Sun, said he will begin charging for access to all his news Web sites starting next summer, according to a report in The Guardian.
“Quality journalism is not cheap,” the News Corp., chairman and CEO told The Guardian. “The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free. We intend to charge for all our news Web sites.”
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Word of the plan to extend fees for news sites beyond that of the Wall Street Journal, which already charges for access, came a day after News Corp., reported a fourth-quarter loss of $203 million on write downs at its Internet unit and plunging advertising revenue.
The New York-based company said it lost 8 cents a share compared with net income of $1.13 billion, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Profit was 19 cents a share, excluding some charges. Analysts on average had expected 18 cents a share according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
News Corp. ad sales were down at its newspapers, which include the New York Post and the Sunday Times, as well as at its TV stations and the social-networking Web site MySpace.
“The tumultuous and unprecedented change affecting the entire media sector, particularly at newspapers and broadcasters, cannot be ignored,” Murdoch said during an earnings-related conference call Wednesday.
Bloomberg contributed to this story
