“I’m not comfortable that Google gives our content away. There has to be a compromise if good quality journalism is to continue.”
That’s the opinion of Patience Wheatcroft, editor-in-chief, Europe, of ‘The Wall Street Journal Europe’, speaking in London this morning.
Whether Google vs. Rupert Murdoch will ultimately end in conflict or compromise remains to be seen. Should matters really have reached this point? As Iain Martin, deputy editor, Europe, ‘The Wall Street Journal Europe’, points out: “The newspaper industry just seemed to assume a solution would turn up [regarding free news content online]. It didn’t.”
All credit to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ for seeing both sides of the story in good old-fashioned journalistic style though. Wheatcroft may not be happy but Eric Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive officer of Google Inc., was allowed his say on the matter in ‘The Wall Street Journal’ this week.