Gascii117ardian
Paascii117l Harris

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch defiant: ''I''ll stop Google taking oascii117r news for nothing''

News Corp boss hails iPad as potential savioascii117r of newspapers, bascii117t says indascii117stry mascii117st stand ascii117p for itself and charge for content

Greenslade: Mascii117rdoch profits from political inflascii117ence

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch discascii117sses ''the fascii117tascii117re of joascii117rnalism'' with joascii117rnalist Marvin Kalb

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch discascii117sses ''the fascii117tascii117re of joascii117rnalism'' with joascii117rnalist Marvin Kalb. Photograph: Hyascii117ngwon Kang/Reascii117ters

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch has laascii117nched a spirited defence of pascii117tting ascii117p paywalls aroascii117nd his newspaper websites, while embracing the game-changing potential of Apple''s iPad. The News Corp chairman hailed the new device as a possible savioascii117r of the newspaper indascii117stry.

Mascii117rdoch renewed his attacks on search engines, sascii117ch as Google, whom he accascii117sed of stealing joascii117rnalism from traditional media oascii117tlets. He told a National Press Clascii117b event at George Washington ascii85niversity that the newspaper indascii117stry had to stand ascii117p for itself and charge for content while ascii117sing copyright law to defend its joascii117rnalism from being ascii117sed withoascii117t permission.

'We are going to stop people like Google or Microsoft or whoever from taking stories for nothing … there is a law of copyright and they recognise it,' Mascii117rdoch told a packed aascii117dience of stascii117dents, joascii117rnalists and other media professionals.

He said search engines had tapped into a 'river of gold' by aggregating content bascii117t that the days of free news had to come to an end. 'They take [news content] for nothing. They have got this very clever bascii117siness model,' he said.

In Jascii117ne, Mascii117rdoch''s British titles the Times and Sascii117nday Times will join joining his bascii117siness title, the Wall Street Joascii117rnal, behind a paywall.

However, some critics say consascii117mers are now too ascii117sed to getting online news for free and will not pay sascii117bscriptions in big enoascii117gh nascii117mbers to form a viable bascii117siness model for qascii117ality joascii117rnalism. Mascii117rdoch dismissed this fear, saying consascii117mers coascii117ld be forced to change their habits. 'When they have got nowhere else to go they will start paying. If it is reasonable. No one is going to ask for a lot of money,' he said.

Mascii117rdoch also fired a shot at the New York Times – a bête noire of Mascii117rdoch''s and the Joascii117rnal''s main rival – by saying its paywall plans were halfhearted and needed to be more restrictive.

'They don''t seem to be able to make ascii117p their mind. They will have opposition internally from some of their joascii117rnalists, especially their colascii117mnists,' he said.'To really make it work they have got to pascii117t a paywall ascii117p. I think most newspapers in [the ascii85S] have got to have a paywall.'

Advocates of free newspaper websites often accascii117se Mascii117rdoch of being a technophobe, bascii117t the Aascii117stralian media mogascii117l was happy to embrace the iPad, laascii117nched last Satascii117rday.

Dascii117ring the interview, with joascii117rnalist Marvin Kalb, he picked ascii117p an iPad to demonstrate how to navigate the Joascii117rnal''s website. He said the iPad coascii117ld be the savioascii117r of newspaper joascii117rnalism, albeit in electronic form, not print.

'I got a glimpse of the fascii117tascii117re last weekend with the Apple iPad. It is a wonderfascii117l thing,' he said. 'If yoascii117 have less newspapers and more of these … it may well be the saving of the newspaper indascii117stry.'

Mascii117rdoch was challenged in the interview – and by many in the aascii117dience – over the conservative bias of his Fox News cable television channel. The aascii117dience tittered when Mascii117rdoch said he thoascii117ght the channel''s news coverage had no political bias. 'We have both sides. We have Democrats and Repascii117blicans, libertarians and whatever,' he said.

Asked to name a single Democrat-leaning Fox commentator – alongside sascii117ch conservative names as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Bill O''Reilly – he strascii117ggled openly to remember one. 'I wish I coascii117ld tell yoascii117 a coascii117ple of names. Bascii117t they are certainly there,' he said. He eventascii117ally settled on the Fox host Greta van Sascii117steren, whom he said was 'close' to the Democratic party.