Journalism and freedom

"Journalism and Freedom" was an article by Rupert Murdoch that appeared in The Wall Street Journal 's online Opinion Journal on 8 December 2009.

"Journalism and Freedom" was adapted from a speech given by Murdoch (Chairman and CEO of News Corporation) at the Federal Trade Commission's Workshop on Journalism and the Internet, held on 1 December 2009. In this article Murdoch discusses his views on government involvement in the press in the form of subsidies, the outdated "20th century business models" of newspapers which rely on advertising revenues and the detrimental effects these have on creators of established news content and the newspaper industry as a whole. He also argues that government funding compromises independent journalism and is a greater threat to competitive and unbiased press than digital technologies are. Also discussed is the impact of internet search engines and open content news material available online and new methods and models of content delivery portal electronic devices and media (e-readers, smart phones, laptops) and how this will affect delivery of news content in the future.

The debate surrounding "Journalism and Freedom" has focused on the threat of new technologies, and the role that they play in the decline of traditional newspapers. Murdoch does not blame new technologies for the decline of newspapers, rather the lack of regulation which allows journalists content to be used without payment. He sees the opportunities technologies can bring, creating a much wider audience for newspapers. Opinions have also been voiced concerning government interventions and the suitability of these as a way of rescuing the industry. Other revenue and business models have been proposed as an alternative to existing ones, as traditional models are failing.

A report in 2009 highlighted the decline of newspaper circulation as figures showed that the industry as a whole sold fewer newspapers than at any other time since the 1940s. Within the report, free online content and business models were blamed for their part in the downturn; an opinion in agreement with Murdoch's article. The Wall Street Journal's circulation in 2009 defied the trend as their circulation rose 0.6% and in 2010 they topped the list of circulating figures for American newspapers . The Journal sells online subscriptions, which is seen as a reason for their success.

Traditional print based media relies heavily upon advertisements and classified adverts for the generation of the majority of their revenue, which accounts for upwards of three quarters of total income. This subsidy covers the expensive printing and distribution costs of the publication which was estimated to be between 30-40% and 11% respectively of total operating costs in 2006. Although online advertisements revenue have overtaken their print counterparts recently, the vast majority of this is spent on search engines and pay-per-click content rather than more traditional advertising on news websites such as banners.

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