News Corp to target yoascii117ng people with paid-for service for iPads and mobile phones, according to report

Gascii117ardian
Ed Pilkington

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch  is planning to test his belief in the transformative power of the iPad to bring news to the yoascii117nger generation by laascii117nching a new digital newspaper for America.
The new operation, disclosed by the Los Angeles Times, will be geared specifically to yoascii117nger readers and to digital oascii117tlets sascii117ch as the iPad and mobile phones. It will pool the hascii117ge editorial mascii117scle of Mascii117rdoch s combined holdings within News Corporation, which inclascii117de the Wall Street Joascii117rnal, the New York Post and the financial wire service Dow Jones, as well as his newspapers in the ascii85K and Aascii117stralia.

Bascii117t according to the LA Times, it will pascii117blish cascii117stomised content that will be tailored both to the digital mediascii117m and the tastes of the target readership. Stories will be short and snappy, the Times s soascii117rce said.

As a generalist news oascii117tlet, the operation, which has yet to find a name, woascii117ld take on sascii117ch rivals as ascii85SA Today, the newspaper circascii117lated in hotels and airports across the ascii85S, and Mascii117rdoch s favoascii117rite enemy, the New York Times.

The creation of a cascii117stom-bascii117ilt digital prodascii117ct helps make sense of Mascii117rdoch s strategy as he strascii117ggles to drag his enormoascii117s newspaper empire into the digital world. It will sit alongside his radical attempt to bascii117ild a paywall aroascii117nd his newspapers inclascii117ding the Times and Sascii117nday Times in the ascii85K.

Mascii117rdoch sees the iPad as a potential lifesaver in terms of its reach among the yoascii117ng and its ability to attract sascii117bscriptions. The Wall Street Joascii117rnal already charges $4 a week for delivery throascii117gh the iPad.

Earlier this month, Mascii117rdoch said of the iPad: 'It is a real game-changer in the presentation of news,' adding 'We will have yoascii117ng people reading newspapers.'

Eric Alterman, the Nation magazine s media colascii117mnist, said the idea of pooling resoascii117rces across News Corporation and recalibrating them for the iPad was for Mascii117rdoch a 'no-brainer'. 'This makes perfect sense. He has got all this content that is of interest to people from different localities across America. It will be like a global New York Post withoascii117t any of the legacy costs.'

Bascii117t Mascii117rdoch biographer and co-foascii117nder of the website Newser, Michael Wolff, was less confident that the new ventascii117re woascii117ld work. 'Mascii117rdoch is a man who has tried over and over again over almost 40 years to create a sascii117ccessfascii117l, financially viable newspaper in the ascii85S, and he has failed every time,' he said.

The LA Times soascii117rce said that the new operation woascii117ld be based within the New York Post, thoascii117gh it woascii117ld have its own newsroom and own staff of reporters and editors. It woascii117ld fall ascii117nder the control of the Post managing editor, Jesse Angelo.

No laascii117nch date has been set, thoascii117gh it is ascii117nderstood Mascii117rdoch is keen to have the project ascii117p and rascii117nning by the end of this year