[A2k] Internet means end for media barons, says Murdoch

[Michelle Childs]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1730279,00.html
Internet means end for media barons, says Murdoch

=B7 Magnate hails second great age of discovery
=B7 Power 'moving from the old elite to bloggers'

Owen Gibson, media correspondent
Tuesday March 14, 2006
The Guardian


Rupert Murdoch last night sounded the death knell for the era of the media
baron, comparing today's internet pioneers with explorers such as
Christopher Columbus and John Cabot and hailing the arrival of a "second
great age of discovery".
The News Corp media magnate nurtures a long-held distaste for "the
establishment" but last night confided to one of the few clubs to which he
does belong - The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers -
that he may be among the last of a dying breed.

Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry - the editors, the
chief executives and, let's face it, the proprietors," said Mr Murdoch,
having flown into London from New York after celebrating his 75th birthday
on Saturday.
Far from mourning its passing, he evangelised about a digital future that
would put that power in the hands of those already launching a blog every
second, sharing photos and music online and downloading television
programmes on demand. "A new generation of media consumers has risen
demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very
much as they want it," he said. Indicating he had little desire to slow
down despite his advancing years, he told the 603-year-old guild that he
was looking forward, not back.

"It is difficult, indeed dangerous, to underestimate the huge changes this
revolution will bring or the power of developing technologies to build and
destroy - not just companies but whole countries."

The owner of Fox News added: "Never has the flow of information and ideas,
of hard news and reasoned comment, been more important. The force of our
democratic beliefs is a key weapon in the war against religious fanaticism
and the terrorism it breeds."

Refusing to reminisce over a career that saw him develop a global empire
stretching from DirecTV and the New York Post in the US to Sky and the Sun
in the UK via assets in South America, Asia and Australia, he declared: "I
believe we are at the dawn of a golden age of information - an empire of
new knowledge."

But he combined his new-found enthusiasm for the digital future with a
"change or die" message for the monolithic media empires of the 20th
century.

"Societies or companies that expect a glorious past to shield them from
the forces of change driven by advancing technology will fail and fall,"
he warned. "That applies as much to my own, the media industry, as to
every other business on the planet." Two hundred liverymen and freemen of
the trade guild were joined by family and friends who then dined in
Stationers' Hall, a Grade 1 listed building near St Paul's Cathedral in
London.

He had some words of hope for his industry peers buffeted by declining
circulations, free titles and the internet. "I believe traditional
newspapers have many years of life but, equally, I think in the future
that newsprint and ink will be just one of many channels to our readers,"
he said, predicting a future in which "media becomes like fast food" with
consumers watching news, sport and film clips as they travel, on mobile
phones or handheld wireless devices.

"Great journalism will always attract readers. The words, pictures and
graphics that are the stuff of journalism have to be brilliantly packaged;
they must feed the mind and move the heart," he enthused.

Following its chairman's change of heart, News Corp has splashed out close
to $1bn (=A3578m) on internet investments.

Most tellingly, the company spent $400m on MySpace.com, the social
networking phenomenon that has proved hugely popular with 35m regular
users on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr Murdoch has undergone a Damascene
conversion, admitting he hugely underestimated the power of the web. He
said last night: "It is a creative, destructive technology that is still
in its infancy, yet breaking and remaking everything in its path. We are
all on a journey, not just the privileged few, and technology will take us
to a destination that is defined by the limits of our creativity, our
confidence and our courage."







--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
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