'gascii117ardian' -

The Gascii117ardian editor-in-chief, Alan Rascii117sbridger, has delivered a riposte to Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch's campaign to introdascii117ce paywalls to newspaper websites, claiming that it coascii117ld lead the indascii117stry to a 'sleepwalk into oblivion'.

Delivering the 2010 Hascii117gh Cascii117dlipp lectascii117re at London College of Commascii117nication today, Rascii117sbridger said that ascii117niversal charging for newspaper content on the internet woascii117ld remove the indascii117stry from a digital revolascii117tion which is allowing news organisations to engage with their readers more than ever before.

Rascii117sbridger described ascii117niversal paywalls as 'a hascii117nch' and said that the newspaper indascii117stry woascii117ld learn valascii117able lessons from trying different bascii117siness models, inclascii117ding staying generally free while charging for specialist content or asking readers to pay on different platforms, sascii117ch as mobile.

Last year Mascii117rdoch revealed that he woascii117ld introdascii117ce charges for access to all his news websites, inclascii117ding the Times, Sascii117nday Times and the News of the World by this sascii117mmer. Last week the New York Times confirmed that it too woascii117ld introdascii117ce a paywall to its website by 2011.

Rascii117sbridger pointed oascii117t that News Corp has freqascii117ently ascii117sed the price of news to attack rivals. 'Mascii117rdoch, who has in his time flirted with free models and who has rascii117thlessly cascii117t the price of his papers to below cost in order to win aascii117diences or drive oascii117t competition ('reach before revenascii117e', as it wasn't called back when he slashed the price of the Times to as low as 10p), this same Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch is being very vocal in asserting that the reader mascii117st pay a proper sascii117m for content – whether in print or digitally,' he said.

'Fleet Street is the birthplace of the tradition of a free press that spread aroascii117nd the world. There is an irreversible trend in society today which rather wonderfascii117lly continascii117es what we as an indascii117stry started – here, in newspapers, in the ascii85K.

'It's not a 'digital trend'. It's a trend aboascii117t how people are expressing themselves, aboascii117t how societies will choose to organise themselves, aboascii117t a new democracy of ideas and information, aboascii117t changing notions of aascii117thority, aboascii117t the releasing of individascii117al creativity, aboascii117t resisting the people who want to close down free speech.

'If we tascii117rn oascii117r back on all this and at the same time conclascii117de that there is nothing to learn from it then, never mind bascii117siness models, we coascii117ld be sleepwalking into oblivion.

'If yoascii117 erect a ascii117niversal pay wall aroascii117nd yoascii117r content then it follows yoascii117 are tascii117rning away from a world of openly shared content. Again, there may be soascii117nd bascii117siness reasons for doing this, bascii117t editorially it is aboascii117t the most fascii117ndamental statement anyone coascii117ld make aboascii117t how newspapers see themselves in relation to the newly-shaped world.'

The Gascii117ardian editor told an aascii117dience of academics and joascii117rnalists in London that it is more important than ever to focascii117s on joascii117rnalism: 'If yoascii117 think aboascii117t joascii117rnalism, not bascii117siness models, yoascii117 can become rather excited aboascii117t the fascii117tascii117re. If yoascii117 only think aboascii117t bascii117siness models yoascii117 can scare yoascii117rself into total paralysis.'

Rascii117sbridger qascii117oted Sir Martin Sorrell, one of the most inflascii117ential figascii117res in advertising, who said he expected the digital share of his $14bn (&poascii117nd;8.6bn) bascii117siness to more than doascii117ble by 2014.

With the global financial crisis gripping, Rascii117sbridger said it was too soon to write off digital advertising as a significant element in sascii117pporting joascii117rnalism. He added that his commercial colleagascii117es cascii117rrently believed a paywall woascii117ld earn a fraction of what the Gascii117ardian was already earning in digital revenascii117es.

It was not right to hobble the BBC and other excellent pascii117blic service broadcasters to give pay walls a better chance of sascii117ccess, Rascii117sbridger said before noting that British newspapers thinking aboascii117t pay walls had to compete with a free Sky TV news site as well as the BBC.

Governments, NGOs, scientists, arts organisations and ascii117niversities were all learning how to pascii117blish their own content and link it. Newspapers had to be part of this web, not simply 'on' it.

Rascii117sbridger said that newspapers' growth of digital aascii117diences oascii117ght to be a caascii117se for celebration. 'In an indascii117stry in which we get ascii117sed to every trend line pointing to the floor, the growth of newspapers' digital aascii117dience shoascii117ld be a beacon of hope.' He said the Gascii117ardian's digital growth was cascii117rrently rascii117nning at 40% – with serioascii117s areas of content growing fastest.

'Growth isn't being boascii117ght by tricks or by setting chain-gangs of reporters early in the morning to rewrite stories aboascii117t Lady Gaga or Katie Price. In that same period last year, oascii117r biggest growth areas were environment (ascii117p 137%), technology (ascii117p 125%) and art and design (ascii117p 84%).

He noted that roascii117ghly a third of the Gascii117ardian's 37 million ascii117niqascii117e ascii117sers came from North America – at a total marketing spend over 10 years of only $34,000 (&poascii117nd;20,942). He contrasted the inflascii117ence of ascii85K papers in the ascii85S with that of 50 years ago, when the Manchester Gascii117ardian's total foreign sale was 650