Online Media Content No Longer Free?

The Financial Times is reporting that News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch has vowed to charge for all of the company’s online news-related content, and, if it proves to be a successful business model, to begin charging for all other online media content as well.  News Corp.’s news-related holdings include Dow Jones & Co. (The Wall Street Journal), Fox News, the New York Post, and U.K’s The Times.  Is this the start of an effort by the large media companies to monetize their content via subscription fees instead of advertising?  If this catches on, how will the blogosphere change if it can no longer link to freely available mainstream news media outlets? Stay tuned.