Murdoch blackout on the Paperboy website hits Australia, too
The Rupert Murdoch blackout of his company's front pages on the Paperboy website is not just the UK.
The Paperboy founder: "A guy called Ian."
Yesterday The Drum lamented the loss of "the best journalistic shortcut in town. All the newspapers' front pages on the Paperboy web site each day."
Today we can report on the largely blank Paperboy Australian website which now carries this message:
"Where have all the Newspapers gone? Unfortunately, we have been asked by News Corp Australia to stop featuring the front pages of their numerous Australian titles including the Australian, Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail and Herald Sun. We regret this development and apologise for any inconvenience"
Reporting the UK situation, the Drum reported on Thursday:
Usually they’ve all been there: from the Belfast Telegraph to the Daily Star, Evening Standard, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph. But not today. This is what I read on the website:
“Unfortunately News UK have served us with a Take Down Notice to stop featuring front pages from the Sun, Times & Sunday Times. Yes, it sucks. Please complain to Rupert!”
The Drum asked News UK why they had done this. And here is the response from a News UK spokeswoman late yesterday: "Our titles offer a subscription based service and we have asked PaperBoy, as we do with all commercial enterprises, not to use our content without a license".
Sounds a bit like a paywall!
Ian (second name not given) is the self-described "head honcho" at the Paperboy, which carries an Australian copyright line. On the site he says : "It started out in November 1997 as a hobby to satisfy my own craving for easy access to quality news and has grown from there (over 5 million visits in 2012). I hope you find it to be a useful resource. Over the years I've had some very positive reviews from various media outlets, including Britain's Sunday Times, CNBC, CNN and the New York Times! "
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