The Murdoch Paywall

 Newspapers: The effect of online technology 

Times digital subscription 



1) I do not agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online. This is because consumers should be able to access news as it is fundamental to have the knowledge of current affairs as it may concern them as individuals. The BBC being a public service broadcaster should not have a pay wall as consumers pay the license fee in order to be provided with the BBC channels therefore the online content should be free as well as it is a substitute from watching the news and quicker and easier to access. As the BBC is a public service broadcaster its aim is not to make profit as they do not gain revenue from advertisements either. Therefore news should be provided for free. 

2) To and extent Rupert Murdoch was right to put his news content behind a pay wall as the aim for him is to maximise profit as much as he can, whereas the BBC does not aim to maximise profits. The Times however does have 140,000 people paying digital subscribers which is showing the favour of the pay wall. However people are signing up due to the generous freebies such as the Times+ membership card and the Google Nexus 7 tablet for a low price of £50. The pay walls are making the company lose profit but this does not make much of a difference as they are making way more money than they are losing. The Times newspaper lost $28.7 million on a turnover of $361 million.