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Media magnate Rupert Murdoch sounded an optimistic note during an often gloomy conference on the future of newspapers in the Internet age sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission Tuesday.
Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns the Wall Street Journal, Fox and a host of other publications and broadcasters, said that while many existing news outlets are scaling back staff, the future of news organizations is still quite bright.
"The future of journalism is more promising than ever," he said. "From the beginning, newspapers have prospered for one reason: the trust that comes from their readers' interests and giving them news that's important to them."
He added, "That mean covering the communities where they live, exposing government or business corruption and standing up to the rich and powerful. Technology now allows us to do this on a much greater scale. We now have the means to reach billions of people."
But Murdoch also cautioned that not every existing news organization would survive the tumultuous times of change.
"We should not blame technology for these failures," he said. "The future of journalism belongs to the bold and the companies that prosper will be those that find new and better ways to meet the needs of their viewers, listeners and readers."
He added, "They should fail just as the restaurant that offers meals that no one wants to eat or a car maker that makes cars no one wants to buy should fail."
Murdoch said that there were several adjustments that are needed for news organizations to prosper in the 21st Century.
"First, media companies must deliver the news that media consumers want and do it in the ways that best fit their lifestyles," he said. "That means we must innovate like never before."
He added, "Second, we need to do a better job of persuading consumers that high-quality, reliable news and information does not come free. Good journalism is an expensive commodity."
The government, Murdoch added, should also reduce unnecessary regulation that prevents news companies from innovating, such as ownership restrictions barring the same company from owning TV stations and newspapers in the same market.
Some of News Corp's successes have come because the company is constantly looking for new ways to provide content and information in either topics that customers want or on platforms that make consumption more convenient, Murdoch said.
"We've been working for two years on a project to use a portion of our broadcast spectrum to bring our TV offerings, and maybe even our newspaper content to mobile devices," he said. "Today's news consumers do not want to be chained to a box in their homes or their offices. . More and more, our readers are using different technologies to access our papers during different parts of the day."
He added, "Even among challenging economic times there are opportunities to expand journalism."
Murdoch also told the audience that newspapers are "we are in the news business, not the dead tree business."
"In other words, what makes a newspaper is its content and brand, not necessarily the format in which it is delivered," he said. "The key to compete in difficult economic times is to invest more in journalistic content and not less."
He added, "In the future, good journalism will depend on the ability of a news organization to attract customers by providing news and information that they are willing to pay for. The old business model based on advertising only, is dead."
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