Rupert Murdoch does not understand the internet -- that is good for us!

Murdoch recently said that all of his web sites will soon be charging for access. In the era of free, charging people for news is a phenomenally bad idea. Especially when my beloved BBC News continues to be free!

But given that he sits on a bunch of biased media and is working to corrupt the previously unbiased media (read: WSJ), I have to applaud this move. If his empire that spews hate and disinformation is already starting to lose money, will people fork over money to get their propaganda?

Well, it appears that there is a group of people who clearly won't. Alternet says:

We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other America, which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is informed by simplistic, childish narratives and cliches. It is thrown into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection.

The literate Americans are not likely to pay for their propaganda. Will the non-reality-based Americans pay and then forego something else or will they not pay and not get any news? That might be a step in the right direction, no?

In any case, I'm glad that Murdoch's empire is feeling the squeeze -- now I can only hope that Colbert and Stewart are still doing well. Afterall they are the most trusted news anchors in this country... on a comedy channel. Oh how sad that is!

Posted by Mayhem at August 6, 2009 02:09 PM