iPropaganda: Murdoch plans national digital paper for tablets, mobile devices

Coming soon to your iPad or mobile device, Rupert Murdoch's News Corps brings you the news in what is being billed as a “new national digital newspaper to be distributed exclusively as paid content.”

The new digital paper will be produced under the roof of Murdoch's New York Post so it is sure to tug News Corps' right-wing party line.

The Los Angeles Times Dawn C. Chmielewski reports:

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is embarking on an ambitious plan for a new national digital newspaper to be distributed exclusively as paid content for tablet computers such as Apple Inc.'s iPad and mobile phones.

The initiative, which would directly compete with the New York Times, USA Today and other national publications, is the latest attempt by a major media organization to harness sexy new devices to reach readers who increasingly consume their news on the go. The development underscores how the iPad is transforming the reading habits of consumers much like the iPod changed how people listen to music.

“We'll have young people reading newspapers,” the 79-year-old Murdoch said during the company's Aug. 4 earnings call. “It's a real game changer in the presentation of news.”

Unlike News Corp.'s business-centric Wall Street Journal, the new digital newspaper would target a more general readership, offering short, snappy stories that could be digested quickly. The newsroom would operate under the auspices of Murdoch's New York Post and be overseen by its managing editor, Jesse Angelo. News Corp. has yet to set a launch date, although people familiar with the matter said the news organization would like it to debut by year's end.

Although it would draw the reporting resources of the Post and Dow Jones, Murdoch could potentially invest millions of dollars to staff the operation and charge a yet-to-be determined subscription fee. One person familiar with the plan said News Corp. envisions a staff of several dozen reporters and editors and that the budget has not yet been determined.

h/t Politico's Keach Hagey