Rupert Murdoch - No paper. No multi-million dollar presses. No trucks.

News Limited chief launches The Daily, his attempt to reinvent the newspaper for the internet age.
Old fashioned journalism with a complement of up to 100 editors, sub-editors, writers, news rooms and bureaus provide the foundation of The Daily, launched by Rupert Murdoch in New York. The iPad-based publication will function behind a paywall within an app downloaded from Apple’s iTunes. There is a website where some of the the content will be available.

But don’t hold your breath. According to News Limited, there are no plans to make it available in Australia and New Zealand.

At the launch Murdoch said the new publication was aimed at recapturing the sophisticated readers who no longer read newspaper. "New times demand new journalism. Simply put, the iPad demands that we completely reimagine our craft," he said.

The Daily will produce 100 pages every day of news, sports opinion, gossip and celebrity. Big on graphics and video it will play to a the interactive strengths of the internet. At a price of 99 cents per week or $39.99 per year – 14 cent per issue – it is much cheaper than any printed newspaper.

So far News has spent $30 million on the project and estimates a running cost of $500,000 per week. "Our ambitions are very big but our cost is very low," he said. “No paper. No multi-million dollar presses. No trucks. We're passing on these savings to the reader, which is why we can offer The Daily for just 14 cents a day."

Murdoch said The Daily will build on News Corporation's decades-old legacy of journalism. He paid tribute to Steve Jobs, Apple founder, who was supposed to be part of the launch until sidelined by medical problems.

With newspaper advertising in decline, if not in freefall, The Daily is a brave attempt to reimagine a journalism that people are pre[pared to pay for at a cost that is sustainable. However it's launch did not gain universal approval with the Sydney Morning Herald describing it as, ‘Cheap to download and slick to the eye, but The Daily lacks depth.’

But then they would say that, wouldn’t they?