Murdoch Plans to Make WSJ Website Free

ADELAIDE,
November 14: At a News Corporation shareholder information meeting in Adelaide,
Australia, Rupert Murdoch confirmed that he wants to change the financial model
of The Wall Street Journal’s website by offering content for free instead of charging for
it.

He explained
that free access would attract a larger number of users and this would drive advertisers
to the site. Murdoch’s News Corp. has purchased Dow Jones, the parent company
of The Wall Street Journal, and that deal is expected to close next month.

Murdoch said
that by removing subscription fees, instead of having only one million subscribers,
the site would have some 10 to 15 million readers from around the globe,
reports the MediaGuardian.

www.wsj.com is
widely considered the most successful paid-access news site.

—By Anna Carugati