Wired with Rupert Murdoch

Wired magazine recently published a longish article profiling Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. and MySpace. The article provides some great background for anyone interested in the changing face of social behaviour on the web and the hunches that drove News Corp.‘s acquisition of MySpace. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to understand the influential thinking behind the rising social participatory media on the web and their effect on traditional broadcast media.

Once you get past the gaudy wealth numbers and dumb awe-speak of the writer, the article provides good insight and balance without all the myopic rah-rah of new media champions predicting the end of mass media. Particularly, from young Rupert himself in the final page, Rupert, Verbatim:

BROADCASTING VS. NARROWCASTING
Mass media will go on. Look at American Idol, with 35 million viewers and advertisers rushing to get on. Niches have a future, too. Look at our Speed Channel, which is mostly Nascar stuff. The middle ground - that’s where you don’t want to get caught.

THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION
The majority of viewing will continue to be in a living room on a TV screen - one that is far bigger and better than what most people have today. Sure, everyone’s going to have a small screen, too. It’s a convenience. But I don’t see people sitting on the beach and watching a movie on their telephone.

THE FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS
Can newspapers make money online? Sure. Can they make enough to replace what’s going out? At the moment, with the Internet so competitive, so new, and so cheap, the answer is no. But don’t look at it as a newspaper - look at it as a journalistic enterprise. If you’ve got authority and trust, if you can make the news interesting, you’ll survive.