Rupert Murdoch has ramped up his push to make readers pay for news online, saying News Corp will start charging for access to all its news sites across his media empire. Seeking to counter the leakage of advertising revenues to the internet, which has hurt the traditional business model of newspapers, the 78-year-old media mogul said today he was ‘very hopeful we can produce significant revenues from the sale of digital newspaper content. ‘Quality journalism is not cheap, Mr Murdoch said. ‘An industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalising its ability to produce good reporting. He was scant on details for such business models today, which could include online subscriptions, charging fees to read single stories and selling content on new platforms such as mobile reading devices. But he said that News Corp would start charging soon. ”We’re thinking in terms of this financial year,’ Mr Murdoch said. It’s been a deep change from his stance only two years ago when he maintained advertising would fund free sites. Since then, the global advertising recession has cut swathes through the profitability of News Corp’s newspaper and free-to-air television business. The company today […]