The Wall Street Journal released a free iPhone application yesterday, Wednesday April 15, which allows readers to freely access WSJ's text, radio and video content, a significant move considering they're one of the few websites that still charge for content. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of WSJ stated recently that online papers should be charging for news if they want to survive.

About eight months ago, WSJ created a free application for Blackberry, yet they charge $9.99 a month on Amazon's Kindle. Critics highlight how ironic it seems that one of the oldest pay walls online is allowing users to find ways around paying. However, they also argue that it is the Journal's move to help broaden their audience.

However users will only be able to enjoy the free WSJ app as parent company Dow Jones & Company's Director of Communications states in an email that "while the new WSJ iPhone app is free, eventually it's likely to follow the same model as WSJ.com, so we have a consistent experience across mutliple platforms."

Many other news outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today and CNN, have had free iPhone apps for a while now. Some people even argue that smartphones are the future of journalism.

Source: WIRED, mediabistro.com