News Corp supremo Rupert Murdoch has conceded his global newspaper business is suffering and he has no plans for expansion.
Speaking at News Corp’s annual general meeting in Los Angeles yesterday, Murdoch said digital advertising “has been tremendously damaging to print” and he conceded some of his newspapers may need to be reviewed.
“So far I think we have done pretty well in replacing lost advertising revenue in the major papers, but it continues to be a big problem,” Murdoch told the AGM.
When asked if News would launch or acquire new newspapers Murdoch replied: “Not really. No. Our hands are pretty full making our existing papers viable.”
However, Murdoch singled out The Australian as one of the group’s better performers in its print stable.
“I think the big three successes we have are the three big national papers: The Wall Street Journal, The Times in London and The Australian.
“The other papers, a lot of them are still very viable, but they are struggling,” he said.
Murdoch also had a subtle swipe at the likes of Facebook and Google who he has argued steal content, don’t produce any content, have shaky ad metrics and do not provide a safe environment for advertisers.
“We recognise the power of our own audiences and our assets and the importance of our own quality journalism,” Murdoch said.
“We’re developing new platforms to bring these assets to bear to the benefit of advertisers who need conducive environments for their advertising and reliable metrics with which to measure effectiveness.”
