New York — Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch, among the most ardent defenders of the traditional press, on Wednesday launched its most ambitious effort yet to re-invent the way news is delivered and consumed as he pressed the send button on “The Daily,” as he staked his reputation on a risky bet that for just 14 cents a day he can save the news business with tablet devices like Apple’s iPad and hopes that the move will position his News Corporation front and center in the digital newsstand of the future.
However, unlike the News Corp chairman’s other publications such as the Wall Street Journal or the Times of London, it was not immediately apparent who the Daily, News Corp’s digital newspaper for the iPad unveiled on Wednesday, is intended to reach.
Nevertheless, that has not deterred the 79-year-old media mogul from investing $30 million (18 million pounds) to start to find an answer.
“New times call for new journalism,” CEO Rupert Murdoch said as he unveiled the publication, a slick blend of text, photos, video, audio and interactive features on stage at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York before an audience of reporters, media executives, employees and advertising partners.
The Daily, a general news product will be first of its kind available for iPad users in the United States, a general interest publication that will revive every morning and will cover everything from national politics to sports to gossip.
Certainly, for Murdoch and the News Corporation, The Daily symbolizes something far monumental and more ambitious than a new business undertaking: it is an opportunity to try to reinvent the business model for news publishing.
“There is a growing section of the population here and around the world that is educated and sophisticated that does not read national print newspapers or watch television news,” said Murdoch, the owner of television stations and newspapers around the world.
Moving forward, subscribers will be charged at 99 cents a week, or $39.99 a year, for The Daily, which will deliver its issues 365 days a year. iPad users who download the software application to access The Daily can charge the subscription to their iTunes accounts, making this the first application at Apple’s App Store that directly handles subscriptions.
The first two weeks will be complimentary courtesy of Verizon Communications. Apple is believed to take a 30 percent cut in the first year. News Corp will later roll out the Daily on other tablets as well.
“We can and must make the business of news gathering and editing viable again,” Murdoch said in New York. “We are entering a remarkable age of innovation and digital renaissance.”
Murdoch’s esteemed remarks recalled his speech almost six years ago when the media mogul urged newspaper editors, or “digital immigrants,” to save the news business by applying a “digital mindset.”
Jon Miller, (L) CEO of Digital Media Group and Jesse Angelo, Editor of “The Daily,” unveil News Cooperation’s new iPad news publication “The Daily” in New York, February 2, 2011. Credit: (Reuters)
The Daily is visually impressive with features including 360-degree photographs, a table of contents that presents a carousel of images for different stories, interactive graphics and video. Users can customize their content. For example, they could pick specific sports teams to follow. They also can listen to stories read aloud by professional announcers.
Editorially, though, the publication provides a familiar magazine-like mix of news, arts coverage and reviews, gossip, opinion, sports and games.
The Daily has bureaus in New York and Los Angeles and a network of freelance contributors.
In journalistic and marketing aspiration and scope, The Daily remembers USA Today when it began in 1982: a publication of no city or region that aspires to be a first-read in the homes of millions of Americans despite having no brand recognition.
The Daily takes that same insight to the digital age by trying to enliven the printed word with photographs, video and interactive features that work seamlessly together.
“This is about as close as you are going to get to the first big test of content on the iPad,” said Mike Vorhaus, the president of the media consulting firm Magid Advisors.
Initial advertisers include HBO, Macy’s, Paramount, Pepsi Max, Range Rover, Verizon and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Editor-in-Chief Jesse Angelo declined to say how much of a commitment the publication will make to investigative journalism. “Read the product every day, and you will find out,” he said at a press conference in New York.