Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul, said his online newspapers will be charging for its content starting next year. “Quality journalism is not cheap,” said Murdoch. “The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free. We intend to charge for all our news websites.”

Murdoch’s announcement comes after his News Corp company lost $3.4 billion dollars during a one year period, that ended on June 30th. Charging for online content will probably have major repercussions among internet users who prefer the free online content. The reason behind the new plan to charge for content is the obvious loss in advertising revenue across the board. The recession has cut online advertising to an all time-low.

Not that I read any of the online content provided by News Corp, but charging for content can and will most likely backfire on Murdoch. His comment “quality journalism is not cheap,” really doesn’t hold true. Most of the online newspapers owned by News Corp, don’t have quality journalism and aren’t worth paying a monthly fee.

Rupert Murdoch probably knows a thing or two more than the average tech blogger but charging for online content won’t be a hit. Instead, you can expect less people to read content if they have to pay a monthly fee for it. I know I won’t be paying for online newspapers content when I can get my news through other avenues.

(Via Telegraph)