Murdoch: Advertising slide over, Web fees coming

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch says the decline in advertising revenue is over. This comes after the news that his key print asset, The Wall Street Journal, saw an increase in circulation during a six-month period when many other papers slid. The Wall Street Journal's success with access fees on its Web site means fees are coming for other News Corp. papers.

Also, despite a year where "newspapers are dying" stories have flooded the Internet and public discussion, Murdoch is spreading the news that newspapers do indeed have a future in the U.S. media landscape. Murdoch adds that the current business model is "malfunctioning" and part of fixing that is charging for content online that consumers would normally pay for in print.

The Web site access fee idea is being met with skepticism. Scooping the News sees this as a necessary change that must be made in the online newspaper industry. We do not view such fees as the key to raising revenue. Newspapers must cut fixed costs (printing presses) and improve online content. That will attract a larger audience, which will generate more advertising revenue.