Would You Pay for the News?

It’s nice to see some sensible comments on the planned move by News Ltd to charge for their online content. In “All The News That’s Free To Read” [^] Pete Berry on A419 makes some good points:

• charging for content that is free elsewhere will drive users away.
• some sites with a higher degree of credibility and impartiality  are likely to always be free (think BBC).
• Internet use is all about darting in and out of multiple sites. They don’t call it surfing for nothing! Would you browse a site that you have to pay for?

Mr Murdoch, the internet does not owe you a living. The mainstream media needs to adapt to new technology and new customer behaviour. The BBC’s of this world are not going to to just roll-over because it’s bad for your business.