Many of us who have to work for a living have over the years got used to the idea that if the skills we brought to the market place were ever to become uneconomical, we would be redundant. We would need to re-train and gain new skills to continue with any sort of gainful employment. This is the part of our capitalist system and we, the workers, should understand this simple economic truth.
Why is it then that big corporations think that it should be different for them? Why do they expect that when the 'ahem' hits the fan, they should be saved and bailed out? The latest in the 'whinging' company sagas are the news corporations and the hundreds of journalists that rely on these corporations to keep them employed.
Rupert Murdoch, the rich owner of News Corp, has been punting the idea over the past few months that we should pay for his news and now, one of the brave, Newspaper publisher Johnston Press, has stepped to the plate by introducing charges to access some of its publications including such impressive titles such as Worksop Guardian, the Ripley & Heanor News, Whitby Gazette and the The Northumberland Gazette, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8385342.stm for more. Now I am not sure that these are specialist titles but I am willing to put some money on the fact that these titles will either be free again in the near future or gone forever.
Whether Johnston Press are using the Mr Murdoch's publicity to push the boundaries or not, it could be that they do well to remember that this is the man who broke the unions' backs many years ago and so it be best to assume that his agenda may be deeper than getting $5 a month from poor old me. After all, both Microsoft and Google have deep pockets. Google, particularly, financed by advertising revenue that Mr Murdoch would like to see in his own pockets. Both these parties would be easier to collect from as compared to millions of transactions where VISA and Mastercard and the like rack percentages simply by providing the means of payment.
Does Mr Murdoch believe we the public will pay for news? He would be missing the millions of comments made about news stories like those listed at the end of this article. Even the likes of Jeremy Clarkson in his article for the Times - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article6936087.ece has failed to convince me that I should pay for general news. Why? Because many of us do recognise that we would not be paying for news but paying to be force fed the vested interests of politicians, corporations and other powerful entities. We understand that we may have to pay for our niche interests but more than likely, there is someone willing to spend the time and effort to bring niche news to us for free for rewards other than money. Citizen journalism can easily cover major events and local events and all we need to remember to take everything with a pinch of salt, just like we should do with these professional news gathers!
On the face of it, Murdoch's whinging reminds me of the record and movie companies constantly crying about the 'billions' in lost revenues that do not appear to translate to big red figures on their bottom lines. Who feels sorry for them? Not many of us if the downloading figures are to be believed.
The business models of the many companies that provided the comfort of regular pay cheques for us are under threat and whilst new business models will emerge they will inevitably mean new working practises and maybe even, heaven forbid, new skills. Journalists, like many other professions including artists, will have to face that fact.
As for the media companies that continue to try and cling on, News Corp is sounding the bell, it's time for a news change. Record and Film companies could do well to take notes.
Some Links to chew the cud over :
[First published on my NotTheNews blog on specified date]