New media economy.

So it would appear the Rupert Murdoch has finally admitted he has no idea what to do with the web. Maybe not directly admitting it, but by action.

The obvious view is that he still is living in the land of corporate mentality: closed, selective and controlling. As we all know, this has no place on the web.

The interesting thing is his actions, by charging for his newspapers on the web, means that he has admitted that the web has won over print. This in itself is a fantastic thing because the knock on effect is that he is now going to “train” the masses in using the web to read his newspapers by forcing then to do so.

Awesome! This will unleash the web to yet newer subscribers who, at this point, may not be aware of its potential.

How long will it take these new subscribers to learn that they don’t need to pay for news input? Not that long, me-thinks.

So for as much as Murdoch is trying to kick against the web, his capitulation can only mean one thing – he is in openly encouraging the masses to be trained on using the web – Google must be ecstatic.

As Jeff Jarvis stated in this very interesting video, we are at the forefront of a world change which goes beyond Global economy and recession. This is a change in base understanding – link economy.

Video Interview: Jeff Jarvis at Next09 from Plugg Conference on Vimeo.

Link economy or new media economy is the future – open, random and supportive.

I expect if Murdoch would to read this blog he would probably “blow his stack” and he probably would say something like “how do you monetise this new thinking?” – “it does not fit my model I don’t understand it, therefore, I will do what I know best and close the doors and charge entry”.

I don’t know the answer – what I do know is this, the change is upon us whether we like it or not. The future is not clear yet and we cannot “pidgeon hole” the answer.

The industrial/corporate age that started years ago is in it’s final death throws and “denial” is an obvious by-product, and as decaying dinosaurs don’t feed new dinosaurs but new plant life, decaying newspapers won’t feed newspapers online – they will feed a new species, species that only early adopters will see.

The irony of Murdoch’s denial is the seed that will help the future.

Nick