The Times must meet the “commercial necessity” to innovate before raising the paywall next year,
We’ve been focusing on what will that mean for the reader. .. and what will that mean for our journalism.” Within that, he’s emphasising presentation: “It’s important to innovate around how you deliver.
In the age of the internet, information is not scarce. Opinion isn’t scarce. People’s attention is scarce.
The BBC is to publish details of public money being spent on expenses within hours but is poised to provoke a fresh row by refusing to disclose details relating to its stars.
One week after MPs caused public outrage by blacking out details of their own expenses, the BBC is refusing to reveal how much is spent on hospitality and gifts by its best-paid celebrities.
At present Murdoch is cross that the Brown government may divert BBC cash to ailing ITV and Channel 4 – but not to Sky, which Margaret Thatcher's favours first breathed into lucrative life. The Murdoch fleet is gently turning back towards the Tories.
So when the Times, Sun, Sunday Times or News of the World attack the BBC and all its works – and they do all the time – or turn up the gas on G Brown – bear in mind they are acting as His Master's Voice to advance Rupert's corporate interests. It is sometimes so blatant you don't know whether to laugh or cry.
The front page of The Times last Tuesday will have shaken the teacups at Tory HQ. At the top was a photograph of David and Samantha Cameron standing alongside David Ross and his girlfriend. Mr Ross is the chap in the soup over his shareholding in Carphone Warehouse. The headline over the picture was "The Party's over for Carphone playboy". The unwritten headline was "And Cameron is a silly ass for accepting donations from such a man".
the Times did not spare George Osborne for having unwisely hobnobbed with Oleg Deripaska, the controversial Russian billionaire – rather to its credit, since Mr Murdoch and his daughter Anna were among the cast of characters – while admittedly giving Peter Mandelson an equally hard time. It is not so much that the paper has fallen in love again with Gordon Brown; rather that it has taken against the Tory leader and his crew.
'The Sun' last week splashed with the news that every Starbucks branch has a constantly running tap. But what curious timing. Starbucks recently pulled the plug on a deal to sell sister paper, 'The Times', in 300 of its cafés. Starbucks was warned two years ago that millions of gallons of wasted water was a PR disaster waiting to happen, but amazingly the story was not, er, leaked until now.
