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Kindle: Fairfax, News Corp say no

Kindle: Fairfax, News Corp say no
Photo by Balázs Kétyi / Unsplash

Not only did Australia’s two main print news media organisations reject Amazon’s Kindle book reader, both made their rejection public.

Fairfax went overboard, publishing versions of the story in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and on its youth-focused site, The Vine.

However, Fairfax didn’t run anything on the story in its business-focused title The Australian Financial Review.

News Corporation has been less vocal in its publications, although Rupert Murdoch did mention his dissatisfaction with the Kindle reader in comments following his company’s annual results.

Murdoch sees potential in Kindle, but it's not the answer

Murdoch mentioned the Amazon Kindle as part of a broader discussion about the future of digital media and paid content. He says he sees the Kindle and similar e-reader devices as potential platforms for distributing news, but he was also critical of the economics of these platforms, particularly Amazon’s revenue-sharing model.

He prefers to see news organisations to take control of their digital distribution rather than relying on third-party platforms like Kindle. Murdoch also pushed the idea that news should not be free online and that media companies need sustainable business models in the digital age.

Amazon wants to clip the ticket too much

As this story in Murdoch's Australian rival The Sydney Morning Herald explains, the problem is Amazon wants to clip the ticket by too much. Some reports suggest the company takes as much as 70 percent of the price of ebook sales and is seeking similar high margins from newspaper subscriptions.

Sony and Apple are mentioned as possible alternatives. One aspect of this story is the assumption people will want to read online newspapers via a special reader rather than with a PC or smartphone.

Kindle Rejected By Australian Newspapers | Fairfax Media, News Corporation.