As an image of the Wall Street Journal from Apples new iPad appeared on the screen behind him, Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., told host Marvin Kalb and a packed audience in the ballroom April 6, this may be the saving of newspapers.
I got a glimpse of the future this weekend with the introduction of the iPad, said Murdoch, one of the nations leading news entrepreneurs whose holdings include the Wall Street Journal and the Fox Broadcasting Co. It has brought together all forms of media.
In a one-on-one interview on The Kalb Report, Murdoch showed how iPad users could see the printed version of the Wall Street Journal presented electronically and how they can go back seven days to see any copy of the Journal in its entirety. He was particularly impressed how a viewer could click on a picture and see it come to life as a video presentation.
"We update the front page every half hour during the day, he said. Every word of the Wall Street Journal is there.
Tens of thousands of people who bought the first iPads over the weekend checked out the Wall Street Journal feature, he said.
The Journal will be available on the iPad for a $4 a week subscription price free to anyone who has a subscription to the print edition. At the same time, he said, the Journal is going to stop Google and Microsoft from taking our stories for nothing.
Newspapers, he said, have to stand up to the online companies to end their free use of the content the news companies produce. Let them do their own reporting, he said.
When Kalb read him a poll that showed only a small percentage of people would pay for news on the Internet, Murdoch responded, I think if people have no place else to go, they will pay for if its not too much money.
He said the printed version of newspapers will be around for a long time. But newspapers will be transitioning to these new electronic versions that can protect the newspapers integrity while reducing costs for printing and transportation.
If you have a great brand name and trust, and if you maintain it, people will be attracted to it, he said.
Often criticized for running news companies that have a conservative bias, Murdoch insisted the other network news operations were manned entirely by Democrats while Fox News had both Republicans and Democrats. However, when pressed, he could not name a Democrat in a major news position until someone from the company shouted out a name from the audience.
Asked about the apparent closeness between Fox News and the Tea Party movement, Murdoch said, "No. I don't think we should be supporting the Tea Party or any other party."
Fox commentator Sean Hannity is very good and an extremely sincere, open Catholic conservative, Murdoch said. No one has said he is anything more than comment from one man.
Im not saying I agree with Mr. Hannity or Bill OReilly, he said, describing his own politics as sometimes radical. He said he sees Sarah Palin as a commentator, not a politician. I know whenever we use Palin, the ratings leap. Were not adverse to high ratings.
