The FT reported today that News Corp and Microsoft are in ‘discussions’.  Microsoft is determined or desperate to catch up with Google in search, the latter being streets ahead.  Microsoft has made it clear that it will invest heavily to achieve its goals. 

Could Microsoft turn the tide in search through exclusive partnerships with publishers? 

Update: Some interesting perspectives on today’s developments…  

Tom Foremski at SiliconValleyWatcher: Is Murdoch Setting Up a Bidding War for News Corp. Index?

Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land: Why an Exclusive WSJ Deal Wouldn’t Help Bing

Alan Kohler, Business Spectator

Alan Kohler argued that the Internet has put an end to the cartel which existed between a small number of publishers in the era of print media as it eradicated the high barriers to entry such as printing presses and licenses (in the case of broadcasting).

Print is a highly ineffecient means of conveying news, he said, adding that the Government would be mad to support ‘public trust journalism’ via print publications. He viewed the recent increase in subsidies for print media legislated by Sarkozy as the latest example of ‘loopy French economics’.

Kohler – as an online publisher – strongly supports the trend towards digital media stating that the industry is in a transition mode. These points formed part of a panel discussion for the ABC’s Saturday Extra program on Radio National entitled, Quality Journalism: How Pays? Does it Matter?

Alan Kohler is the publisher of Business Spectator (online business and finance news) and The Eureka Report (subscription based investor news service). He said that the Business Spectator – founded 16 months ago – would ‘make a profit before too long’.

Philanthropic support and/or Government funding could help protect public interest journalism in Australia, according to Eric Beecher, publisher of Crikey.

The panel also included Wendy Bacon (Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS), John Hewson (Liberal Party Federal Leader, 19901-994) and Campbell Reid (Group Editorial Director, News Limited) with Geraldine Doogue, as moderator/presenter.

I have mixed feelings about the decline of newspapers. I agree that traditional mass media is effectively a monopoly but its also representative of national consciousness (imperfectly but as close as we know), it leads and sets the agenda. Digital media lets the audience set their personal agenda and that has inherent limitations (you don’t know what you don’t know).

I’d like to think that the power of the Internet to mobilize large numbers of people around campaigns and ideas will be effective in holding our institutions to account in the future but this still requires instigation, leadership. The danger is that we lose print media and have nothing to fill the void and each individual retreats into their own echo chamber of self determined media, opinion and content.

Crikey's Eric Beecher

Eric Beecher (Publisher of Crikey) painted a dark future for the print versions of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspaper during a panel discussion for ABC Radio’s Saturday Extra program earlier today. The discussion ‘Quality Journalism: How to Pay for it? Does it Matter?’ focused on the future of print journalism in Australia, new business models and the concept of public trust journalism.

Pointing to the fact that few cities internationally are able to sustain two daily newspapers (many are struggling to sustain one), Beecher made the point that News Corporation with The Australian and its tabloid dailies in Melbourne and Sydney would take the opportunity to ‘wipe out’ the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. A ‘not unlikely scenario’, he said.

Pew Research Centre

The Pew Research Center has published its 2008 News Media Consumption Survey, which – unsurprisingly – found a continued migration of readers / consumers from print media to online media. It also found a decline in newspaper readership – print and online. 43% of those surveyed in 2006 said they read a newspaper ‘yesterday’ – compared to 38% in the 2008 survey. The number of people that read just a print version of the newspaper fell to 25% from 34%.

Newspaper readership declined overall, 14% of Americans said they read an online newspaper ‘yesterday’ compared to 9% in 2006.

One third of newspaper readers consumed their content via the Web in 2008 compared to a quarter in 2006. Generational segmentation shows that younger readers are more likely to source their news content online, as you might expect, but the decline in print readership is consistent across the board. Baby Boomers are less inclined to read print media down from 42% to 34% in the two years between 2006 and 2008.

Radio as a source of news content has experienced decline in the broadcast media category, while TV news has held its own since 2006, except in the Gen Y demographic. This table shows the most frequented Online news sites – the presence of new media brands in the top half of thise table is interesting. Many print media publications have successfully transferred their business to the Web but remain hamstrung by the inefficient and broken business models associated with their print editions. These challenges are compounded by the sharp decline in advertising revenue, which is accelerating the transformation of the news media.

Pew Research Center 200

I’ve heard it be said that it would be more economical for the publisher of the New York Times to provide every subscriber with an Amazon Kindle than it is for them to produce and distribute a hard copy version of its product. San Francisco could soon become the the first major city in America to not have a daily metro newspaper.

It seems almost certain that daily newspaper will cease to exist in the new future – its a case of when.

The scary aspect to this is the fact that readers will have the power to choose the stories they want to read. We are reliant on the reader to turn to serious online media outlets to ensure that we – as a community – remain informed about what’s going on in the world.  Will individuals organise themselves effectively to hold our institutions, Governments and leaders to account?