Murdoch to Newmark: old and new media crossing over

Posted by John Burke on November 29, 2005 at 1:03 PM

"We're over you, Rupert," is how Emily Bell at the Guardian responds to the first interview News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has given to the British press in five years. Ms. Bell thinks the interview marks the end of the mainstream media era that has now been ceded to a host of "accidental entrepreneurs" in new media. But looking more closely, it seems that the lines between the two are crossing.

Murdoch has been aggressively pursuing Internet properties. A speech he gave to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in April 2005 was the start of a 6-month, $1 billion whirlwind shopping spree that now makes him the proud owner of the world's fourth largest Internet firm.

But Murdoch's Internet purchases stray from the type of old media he holds; news organizations.

Murdoch began his Internet rush by creating Fox Interactive Media, stemming from his popular television station, Fox News.

But since then, Murdoch and Co. have diversified by buying a company that includes a very popular social networking site and a system of sports sites, an Internet gaming and entertainment site, a classified advertising site, and is looking to turn his properties into a Google-like portal for entertainment.

On the other side of the media coin is Craig Newmark, the founder of the extremely popular free classified website, craigslist. Craig confirmed rumors last week that he is helping establish a news site on the web.

But Craig is a "senior Web-oriented software engineer" with 18 years experience at IBM according to his bio. What's he doing moving into news?

Craig cites his loss of trust in the mainstream media as a reason for his interest in the project, a reason echoed by many bloggers disappointed with the "mainstream media." But the fact is, the large majority of Internet news sites and blogs depend on the mainstream media. Original reporting is scarce and usually does not interest the general public. Does Craig plan to change this?

There are not yet any detailed descriptions of the project available, but Jeff Jarvis says it's a "start-up founded by Upendra Shardanand (ex Firefly, Microsoft Passport, AOL, and Time Warner) and a sterling team." They hope to have a beta version in the spring.

Similar diversions from core businesses are the New York Times' purchase of the information website About.com and Yahoo's ventures into original reporting.

If individuals and companies continue to cross the line, what's to happen to the news? Or does the line even exist anymore? Are news and new technologies now one in the same?

Source: The Guardian, Buzzmachine

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