News Limited making big push into new media

Martin used to work at News Limited's main rival, the Fairfax Group, which for many years led News Limited in its online offering. Martin says: "We used to say at Fairfax that if News Limited ever got its act together online, it would be a real threat, because it had such a big parent company with information products across such a big range."

He goes on: "After I heard Rupert Murdoch's speech at the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) meeting last year, I was inspired to move to News Limited from Fairfax." Murdoch told the audience that News International had, along with many other newspaper proprietors, been too slow to adjust to the digital revolution, and that all newspaper proprietors needed to make more of an effort to reach online consumers

Martin says that effort is now firmly underway at News Limited: "We're relauching the mast-head websites for the major papers [such as The Australian, the  Melbourne Herald Sun and the Sydney Daily Telegraph] in the next month or two. We're also undertaking big educational work to make print newsrooms aware of online options, and giving them a feeling of ownership for online news."

He says that print editors and journalists are much more responsive to the online team's approaches since Murdoch's speech last year. "There's a bit of fear about being slow to change now."

The growth of the online advertizing market is also helping change mentalities, Martin says. The market will be worth USD 1 billion by the end of the year, making it bigger than the outdoor and radio markets, and almost bigger than the magazine advertizing market.

More news from the 59th World Newspaper Congress 

And our video blog with Robb Montgomery and Visual Editors