Why Murdoch and the New York Times are at war (Analysis)
Rupert Murdoch, the most significant player in the newspaper wars of the 20th century, is proving that he is still up for battle in the 21st century.
Having famously vanquished Robert Maxwell in 1969 in buying the News of the World - springboard for his great success in UK newspapers - Murdoch is now engaged in tormenting the venerable New York Times.
Murdoch has long been the owner of the tabloid New York Post. There didn't seem cause for confrontation, however until Murdoch took over the Wall Street Journal in 2007 - and began aggressively moving into the centre ground occupied by the NYT.
Last year The Times, known as the Old Gray Lady picked up her skirts - and her handbag!
The paper sent a team of journalists to London for a lengthy investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking affair, presenting the results in tabloid style in their glossy weekly magazine. American readers must have wondered why the Times had strayed so far from its circulation area.
But it has ignited a media storm in the UK and, say some, could ultimately thwart Murdoch’s dreams of acquiring the share of BSkyB he doesn’t own.
This week the NYT returned to the fray in London. At the same time , Mr Murdoch was in New York for his launch of The Daily, the ground-breaking newspaper for the I-pad.
The Times gave the event generous coverage pointing out however,"As groundbreaking as The Daily is, it is also freighted with risks. Whether consumers will regularly pay for news content on their tablets is far from certain. Sales of iPad applications for magazines have been uneven, and many newspapers give their applications away free."
The paper quoted media consultant Alan Mutter, “There’s always the danger you’ll be too first.” Hmmm . . .
There was no mention in the Times report of news.me, a "personalised news service" reported six months ago as being developed by the New York Times and Betaworks - which is initially to debut as an iPad application,