Who Needs The Times?

On Wednesday, News Corporation announced the launch of The Daily — the first-ever newspaper designed exclusively for the Apple iPad. Your local newspaper may be out of business sooner than you thought.

You're probably one of the mobile people. The folk who can't live without an electronic, transmitting/receiving doo-hickey emanating digital pulses from your pocket. You're not alone. Billions are getting their news from the internet. Print is a dying industry, with several well-known and pre-internet profitable newspapers closing up shop because they just can't keep up with the lightening fast delivery of a smartphone app.

The latest death knell of the newspaper industry came this week as News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch unveiled a new iPad exclusive periodical. The move will likely prove momentous for digital media and journalism as publishers look to e-readers as exclusive news delivery systems. News Corp owns Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Post — and if that isn't enough of an indication that The Daily will lean conservative, an unsigned editorial included in the first edition should get rid of any doubt:

"[The Daily] will push for policies that give Americans the maximum possible freedom in their personal lives. [The editors] don't believe that expanding government is the solution to most problems."

The e-paper (iPaper?) will publish new issues 365 days a year, and will cost readers 99 cents a week (or $39 a year).