Murdoch foresees paperless future for WSJ, all newspapers

Media mogul and News Corp. chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch said Monday in an interview with FOX Business’s Neil Cavuto The Wall Street Journal could be paperless in 20 years.
Murdoch said he believes almost all news will be delivered either digitally via computer or on portable devices like Amazon's Kindle within 10 years.
While the newspaper industry is currently struggling to change its business model, Murdoch said he believes newspapers will endure. From the story:

“My feeling is that we hopefully hit a bottom here where things will be pretty stable from now on. Not as good as they were a little while back. It’s going to take time to climb out of it. That’s okay,”

View the story here.

What do you think of Murdoch's predictions and a potentially paperless WSJ? Tell us in a comment.

Dow Jones trims benefits

Though The Wall Street Journal's circulation and site usage has increased, its parent company News Corp. is cutting back benefits in the face of economic woes.
Dow Jones Chief Executive Les Hinton announced the cuts in a memo Tuesday. The cuts will freeze the Money Purchase Plan and reduce health care subsidies for the retired.
Hinton said some of the money saved in the cuts would be put toward new health and wellness benefits.
Hinton said in the memo, "We want to give Dow Jones employees - whose ages, family situations, and career profiles are more varied than ever before - increased choice and enhanced coverage while providing individuals with better ways to manage health care costs."
Read the full story here.

WSJ to introduce micro-payment service

The Financial Times reports that News Corp has plans to take its paid content model one step further.
This year the company will introduce a micro-payment service that allows visitors to pay for individual articles and premium subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal’s website.
From the story:

"The move will position the Journal as the first big newspaper title to adopt a model many are cautiously studying as they seek to reduce their dependence on plunging advertising revenues. It comes as John Kerry, the senator leading congressional hearings on the future of journalism, told the FT it was conceivable that publishers could be given limited exemption from antitrust laws to discuss online models."

Murdoch tells Dow Jones employees he will set an even "higher bar"

Rupert Murdoch spoke to Dow Jones employees at their Manhattan headquarters several hours after he bought their company, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal's Sarah Ellison.
Murdoch acknowledge that change creates nervousness and is sometimes difficult, but said Dow Jones must be the essential source of financial information and comment in the world.
Ellison reports says that Murdoch told employees he understood the value of Dow Jones and in particular The Wall Street Journal.
"If anything, you will find us trying to set a higher bar," Murdoch said.
Shareholders approved the more than $5 billion sale of Dow Jones & Co. to Murdoch's News Corp. on Thursday.
To read Ellison's full report click here.

Can Murdoch save newspapers?

Diane Mermigas, Editor-at-large at MediaPost, contemplates today about Rupert Murdoch's ability to save newspapers now that he has The Wall Street Journal in his hands. Mermigas says Murdoch's advantage is that he understands and embraces the notion of a global media landscape. He is able to envision possible digital applications of many currently undervalued, and often overlooked, assets.
While many publishers are expected to post a decline in revenues for the year, "News Corp.’s newspaper holdings are growing profits better than 25% annually to more than $650 million on $4.5 billion in revenues (and a 15% margin). It must be doing something right."
Read more from Mermigas here.

Bancroft family expresses emotion over sale of Dow Jones

The vote that ended Dow Jones tenure today as an independent company, something it has been for 105 years, was emotional for some Bancroft family members, according to a report in Forbes.
Jane Cox MacElree the oldest surviving member of the Bancroft clan, teared up when asked about the sale.
"It's a very sad day," MacElree said. "Something that's been in your family for many generations--to see it end is very sad."
Other family members openly expressed their opinion about selling their company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
"I'm sad about this. This is a moment that I did not wish for,'' Dow Jones director Christopher Bancroft said, before the meeting.
To read the full story from Forbes click here.

Snippets: Murdoch interviewed on Fox News

Shareholders approved News Corp's purchase of Dow Jones today. Rupert Murdoch then appeared on Fox News.

Snippets from the interview...

• He plans to develop international editions of The Wall Street Journal.

• In regard to competition with The New York Times: "We are a long way in front now."

• Despite the success of the WSJ.com paid subscriber model, Murdoch talks of making the site free saying they'll cover the subscription revenue by increasing total online circulation (viewers) resulting in greater online advertising revenue. More eyes, more ad dollars.
  

• On how to get young people reading newspapers again: "Make newspapers better and more exciting."

• On making articles shorter: Murdoch wants to "keep the paper busy." Perhaps break stories in parts, "guts on the front page" and the rest inside.

• On Fox Business Network: "It's going well." Dow Jones and Fox Business Network will help each other.

Murdoch also talked politics and shared views on the writers' strike and its impacts on the industry.

Wall Street Journal sale is final

This afternoon the majority of Dow Jones & Co. shareholders approved selling the company to News Corp. for $5.6 billion.
The general council of Dow Jones said shareholders holding 60.27 percent of the company's stock had been approved for the sale, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal.
The sale ends the Bancroft family ownership of Dow Jones, which dates back to more than a century.
To read the full report click here.

Approval likely for Wall Street Journal sale

The Wall Street Journal reports that a count of proxy votes indicates Dow Jones shareholders will approve a News Corp. takeover tomorrow.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has offered to buy the company for more than $5 billion, which would end the Bancroft family long ownership of the newspaper.
For the full report click here.