News Corp considers news organization devoted to iPad, other tablets

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
The popularity of Apple's iPad has prompted media giant News Corp. to consider starting a news organization that would provide content specifically for a new subscription service for tablet devices.



The Financial Times reported Friday that the company has not yet made a decision on the matter, but is expected to make a move this autumn. Officials with the company see such a venture as an opportunity to help News Corp. transition into the digital era for news.



If created, the news organization would have its own staff and be its own, entirely new entity.



"The ambitious undertaking under consideration would be another test of consumers' appetite to pay for news," the report said. "The momentum behind developing a tablet-centric product is driven by a belief that readers are willing to pay for portability. News Corp's early progress in selling subscriptions on the iPad has inspired the company to consider the new business."



In May, News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch revealed that his publication The Wall Street Journal had already gained more than 64,000 active iPad users. Then in June, he praised the device and the potential for it at the annual D: All Things Digital Conference.



In addition, this week the Journal began soliciting iPad users in the New York City metropolitan area, asking them to participate in group sessions in August to help improve their application available on the App Store.



"We are very interested in hearing about your experiences with the iPad, the Wall Street Journal app, and other news apps," Alan Murray, the paper's online executive editor said in an e-mail sent out on Wednesday and obtained by AppleInsider. Users selected for the study will receive $200 for their participation.



The Times said the efforts by News Corp. are viewed internally as "an honest attempt" at transforming journalism.



"If News Corp gives the green light to the tablet-centric news organisation plans, it will hire a new staff while borrowing fro the resources, but not the content, of its news assets, which include the New York Post and Down Jones," author Kenneth Li wrote. "The product would include coverage of news, entertainment, sports and politics."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    jdlinkjdlink Posts: 50member
    Now the they just have to convince Apple to allow subscription services.
  • Reply 2 of 43
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,035member
    I don't trust Rupert to deliver objective information after what he's done with FOX.
  • Reply 3 of 43
    damn_its_hotdamn_its_hot Posts: 1,209member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The Times said the efforts by News Corp. are viewed internally as "an honest attempt" at transforming journalism.



    Of course they would - but can they sell that to the public. Gonna be difficult I think.
  • Reply 4 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jdlink View Post


    Now the they just have to convince Apple to allow subscription services.



    You should read Gruber's take on this.



    Its quite clear Apple allows subscriptions (there are several apps doing subscription), but SI was doing something with linking the iTunes accounts, that Apple wasn't happy about.



    Unfortunately, its more muddied waters. Apple has full bases, and 0 outs. They need to fix their App Store policies and will get the walk-off grandslam.



    Unfortunately, they keep seeming to ignore the huge, and growing problem the App Store is.



    (I know a lot will say that its successful, but I would argue the App Store is successful despite itself. Mainly because the rest of the Apple eco-system is so strong (i.e. Hardware and ease of use).
  • Reply 5 of 43
    rabbit_coachrabbit_coach Posts: 1,114member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addicted44 View Post


    You should read Gruber's take on this.



    Its quite clear Apple allows subscriptions (there are several apps doing subscription), but SI was doing something with linking the iTunes accounts, that Apple wasn't happy about.



    Unfortunately, its more muddied waters. Apple has full bases, and 0 outs. They need to fix their App Store policies and will get the walk-off grandslam.



    Unfortunately, they keep seeming to ignore the huge, and growing problem the App Store is.



    (I know a lot will say that its successful, but I would argue the App Store is successful despite itself. Mainly because the rest of the Apple eco-system is so strong (i.e. Hardware and ease of use).



    I think, the APP store was extremely good to begin with, but now it has become quite a mess. Particularly because of the huge amount of apps. Maybe subcategorizing would be helpful and in adition a more advanced search function.

    As for portable newsmagazines, I certainly would be willing to pay for subscribtion. Only jurnalism which is financially payed by the actual readers is forced to do decent jurnalism.

    I they suck, the readers stop subscribing. It' as simple as that. All freely available newspapers I know are really catastrophic.
  • Reply 6 of 43
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Multimedia View Post


    I don't trust Rupert to deliver objective information after what he's done with FOX.



    But I guess you would trust CNBC and Keith Olbermann huh?
  • Reply 7 of 43
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    Why do you need a separate division for iPad and how would iPad "transform journalism". All you really need is to have engineers and editors that are familiar with technology to transition journalism over to a new medium. Journalism is independent of technology really, you can have good/bad reporting on any medium.



    Creating iFox news for iPad does not change the fact it's fox news, same goes for NBC.
  • Reply 8 of 43
    Propaganda Corp would not be my first choice for 'news.'
  • Reply 9 of 43
    Murdoch has been about the gutter press since long before he bought his way into US citizenship and control of so much of the media in the US. The Sun has been a top-selling newspaper in the UK for decades (www.thesun.co.uk). It's like the New York Post except it has topless or nude women on page 3. Will this end up on the iPad?
  • Reply 10 of 43
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    The thing is most people bash other people and organizations because they're told to. Not because they come to that decision on their own accord. Ask anyone who bashes anything in the news and see if they've read or watched something objectively in its entirety and can dispute it with sound reason or if they're just going off selected clips put in the context that their news source of choice wants their viewers to ingest and disseminate.
  • Reply 11 of 43
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,258member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    Propaganda Corp would not be my first choice for 'news.'



    Agreed. Why pay for brainwashing when you can get it for free?



    I would be much more interested in seeing something from Bloomberg on the iPad that is aimed at a broader audience than just their terminal subscribers. I find Bloomberg news to be one of the least rabidly biased news outlets out there. If nothing else, they've got Michael Lewis who is 100% awesome.
  • Reply 12 of 43
    wurm5150wurm5150 Posts: 763member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jdlink View Post


    Now the they just have to convince Apple to allow subscription services.



    WSJ already has a subscription option for the iPad.
  • Reply 13 of 43
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    Suggestion:



    Stick with ZINIO for iPad... full one-year subscriptions of almost every major publication for US 5.00 to 40.00, and absolutely none of this silly drama.
  • Reply 14 of 43
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sheff View Post


    Why do you need a separate division for iPad and how would iPad "transform journalism". All you really need is to have engineers and editors that are familiar with technology to transition journalism over to a new medium. Journalism is independent of technology really, you can have good/bad reporting on any medium.



    Creating iFox news for iPad does not change the fact it's fox news, same goes for NBC.



    Brand may be the point of the exercise. Considering the fact that the demographics of iPad users skew younger and more politically moderate than either Fox News or the Wall Street Journal, News Corp. may be looking to establish a stand-alone brand.



    This sounds a lot like Slate.com or The Daily Beast but geared more toward tablet displays.
  • Reply 15 of 43
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rabbit_Coach View Post


    I think, the APP store was extremely good to begin with, but now it has become quite a mess. Particularly because of the huge amount of apps.



    This is an opinion that I've heard here before .... and IMHO it was stupid then and is still stupid. 225,000 apps is too much to search through ?????



    Do you ever do a google, bing, yahoo or any other kind of a search on the web that has untold millions of web sites to choose from?



    Stop being so lazy and put the same kind of effort into an app search that is usually required to put into a web search ... the lack of effort on your part does not constitute a responsibility on anyone else's . Rant over!.....
  • Reply 16 of 43
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    But I guess you would trust CNBC and Keith Olbermann huh?



    Where in his comment did he say anything like that?



    I'm about sick to death of people using this sort of imbecilic argument in defense of Faux News.



    Fox News isn't news, it's propaganda. MSNBC has their own bias, but definitely not to the same degree as Fox, and pointing to that bias as a method to defend Fox is not very intelligent at all.



    They should just called themselves "America's conservative news network."
  • Reply 17 of 43
    elmcitywebelmcityweb Posts: 109member
    It would be a good move on News Corp's part to move on this endeavor asap. In 5-10 years when the iPad is in million of more households there's only going to be so many companies on top of the list of best iPad news/magazine providers.



    That said, Fox News is a joke.
  • Reply 18 of 43
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    Propaganda Corp would not be my first choice for 'news.'



    Don'y worry they don't actually have a 'news' division! They write it all themselves.
  • Reply 19 of 43
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chronster View Post


    Where in his comment did he say anything like that?



    I'm about sick to death of people using this sort of imbecilic argument in defense of Faux News.



    Fox News isn't news, it's propaganda. MSNBC has their own bias, but definitely not to the same degree as Fox, and pointing to that bias as a method to defend Fox is not very intelligent at all.



    They should just called themselves "America's conservative news network."



    Hey don't insult conservatives, many of them do have brains! Call it "America's far right wingnut view point network"
  • Reply 20 of 43
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Multimedia View Post


    I don't trust Rupert to deliver objective information after what he's done with FOX.



    NBC? Do you trust NBC? With the likes of Matt Lauer of the Today Show, or Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann et al of MSNBC, NBC News like Chuck Todd or Brian Williams... NBC = Nose Brown Company because everywhere you look their news personalities have their head so far up Obama's Ass!



    Yeah, FOX Blows... that is blows the competition out of the water when it comes to a numbers game regarding ratings! From the Orlando Sentinel...
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