Berlin 09-12-2009
Axel Springer AG , based in Berlin released its first fee-based online products yesterday, the publisher announced.
The internet has become a double whammy for classic print-newspapers because they are losing print subscribers to their on-line sites, at the same time most people reason that online news should be free and remain free.
Springer, which publishes the largest selling daily in Europe – Bild – along with other newspapers in Germany, is attempting to do the impossible and get newspapers to get paid for newspaper web-sites on the Internet.
Rupert Murdoch, owner of ‘News Corp.’ has been calling for “pay walls” for his newspapers’ web sites. Other large English papers like the ‘New York Times’ – owner of the in Paris published ‘International Herald Tribune’- have indicated they might consider charging for online access.
While these large monopolies presently continue to dominate news distribution, by restricting their products on-line, they face the very real danger – and to them deadly -challenge of smaller local on-line competitors taking them on.
The Springers and the Murdochs don’t much like this trend of smaller competitors gaining a foothold in their territory- competitors they will not be able to control.
The slogan “power to the people” -in this sense a real democratization of news-media -is anathema, a bane, a real curse to them.
By trying to squeeze even more profits out of their present monopolistic empires, they may in fact be creating the circumstances for their own downfall - which is long overdue.
Tags: axel springer, Berlin, bild, content
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Micropayments all the way!