New York/London/Paris: Rupert Murdoch's pledge to charge for online content from all his news outlets has been met with scepticism from rivals, even as they attempt to find their own alternatives to a broken business model.
Murdoch, a born newspaperman who named his multimedia empire News Corp, has more at stake than anyone as the industry grapples with falling print, television and online advertising. "If we're successful, we'll be followed by all media," he said on Wednesday, but rivals expressed doubts that erecting pay walls around everything from Fox News to the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier would trigger copycat moves.
"I don't think this is about what Rupert Murdoch wants. It's about what the consumer is prepared to pay for. And why would you pay when you can get the same thing somewhere else for free?" asked Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror's chief executive.
"The idea that there is going to be direct as opposed to indirect monetisation of content is a challenging one," said Richard Titus, head of DMGT's Associated Northcliffe Digital unit. "I have not seen anything to change my mind."
"Murdoch is either going to make the market or steer a lot of users our way," another UK newspaper manager said. "There is very little benefit for anyone being the first mover."
One rival publication, The Age in Melbourne, gleefully pointed out that readers of a News Corp-owned website had ridiculed the idea of paying for its "quality journalism".
According to Gordon Crovitz, a co-founder of the Journalism Online venture that is working with the industry on a variety of pay models online, "hundreds of publishers" are studying the question intently and the venture is close to announcing its first affiliates.
"Everyone in the industry is already spending a lot of time thinking about and testing diversifying revenue streams," said Geoff Reiss, general manager of Newsweek digital.
The New York Times said News Corp's move would not affect its own consideration of metered access models, but Nicolas Beytout, chief executive of Les Echos, the French business daily, said it would reinforce those who favour paid-for content.
Murdoch's record of changing his mind, as when he abandoned plans to scrap subscriptions for WSJ.com, led some to question whether he was serious, although insiders said he was in earnest.