15 June 2010 | Author: L. Sutherland News Editor

News Corp closer to paid content with Skiff acquisition

The news industry has faced some massive struggles in recent years, and the online arena fuelling much strife for traditional outlets. With much news content available online and at no cost, it's little wonder that news providers have been hunting for ways to monetise the service they provide online, as well as off.

Now it seems that News Corporation is one step closer to making paid-for content a reality, as the organisation has acquired Skiff - an electronic reading platform. Rupert Murdoch's news empire - which includes a large number of titles such as the The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal - has also invested in a company that was developing pay models for newspapers and magazines, reports the New York Times.

Online news aggregators such as Google News, Yahoo! News and news from MSN and AOL are blamed by many in the industry as the force driving down the ability of journalists to be paid for their efforts. Some claim that they also dilute the quality of the news available to the average reader.

Last year, Mr Murdoch announced his firm belief that online content should come at a price. Here at bigmouthmedia, we wondered if his plans to set up a subscription service would see News Corp having the last laugh when it came to news content online.

He was not the only media mogul to feel this way, and a number of other US publishers announced that they backed his proposition, but it seems that his organisation will be the one to make the suggestion a reality.

A statement from Jon Miller, the chief digital officer of the News Corporation, said: "both Skiff and Journalism Online serve as key building blocks in our strategy to transform the publishing industry and ensure consumers will have continued access to the highest quality journalism."