Here's the latest 4MR audio report from MediaShift. In this week's edition, I look at the recent comments by News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch, who says he wants to make people pay to see content on all his news sites. The comment split people into two camps: those who think news sites will have to charge something; and those who think it's a bad strategy. Also, the Washington Post's Ian Shapira wrote about how upset he was that gossip blog Gawker had rerun the best quotes from his story without giving him enough credit. Plus, Amy Gahran leaves Poynter's E-Media Tidbits and apologizes for a lack of compassion.
Check it out:
Background music is "What the World Needs" by the The Ukelele Hipster Kings via PodSafe Music Network.
Here are some links to related sites and stories mentioned in the podcast:
Murdoch signals end of free news at the BBC
Why Murdoch, the old media reactionary, is wrong to charge for content at the Guardian
Expert views on Rupert Murdoch's online pay-to-view strategy at the Guardian
Rupert Murdoch's move to charge for content opens doors for competitors at the Guardian
Boston Globe ponders charges for online content from the AP
The Death of Journalism at the Washington Post
Generational Consultant Holds America's Fakest Job at Gawker
Did Gawker Rip Off The Washington Post? Yep. at Mediaite
Amy Gahran Leaves Tidbits, with Gratitude and an Apology at E-Media Tidbits
Here's a graphical view of last week's MediaShift survey results. The question was "What do you think about Microsoft's revamped search engine, Bing?"
Also, be sure to vote in our poll about how you think newspapers should make money online.
CORRECTION: I mistakenly identified the Washington Post reporter as "Ira Shapira" in the 4MR report, and in this blog post, instead of the correct spelling Ian Shapira. I have corrected that mistake on the blog and am sorry about the audio mishap.
UPDATE: Amy Gahran, who I quoted in this episode, said in the comments below that she was not apologizing for being too critical, but for not promoting enough of the good work being done by journalists. I apologize for that misreading in the podcast.
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.
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1 comment so far, Add Yours
Amy Gahran said:
August 18, 2009 8:52 AM
Hi Mark
Catching up on some podcast backlog & just heard this episode. Thanks for mentioning me.
You said that I apologized for being "too critical" toward traditional journalism, journalists, news orgs, and j-schools. Actually, that's not correct.
In my final Tidbits post, I specifically clarified that I was NOT apologizing for the criticisms I've offered on that front. I said what needed to be said in those cases, and I stand by those posts.
Rather, I was apologizing for not *also* paying enough attention to the good, forward-looking work being done by many mainstream journos and news orgs; and for not adequately considering the pain that many journos currently feel before staying points in my characteristicslly blunt fashion
Thanks,
Amy Gahran
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