"algorithm and blues" - the entire article's only redeeming point. But the content itself is the same old. Professionally produced content costs money, he says, and you will pay for it. Fine, I say. Pay for whatever you feel like paying. I'll keep ignoring things I can't find. The best quality material is no longer exclusively at high-reputation big-name sources. As soon as the distribution is more level, and the major differentiating factor is what can be easily found, searchable online content will win. No matter how many CEOs claim otherwise.
Rupert Murdoch has already made many of the points that Les Hinton discussed in this speech, but I think the most interesting item was his claim that click-oriented ads are relatively worthless, compared to simple display advertising on quality news sites like the WSJ.
Another thing that's apparent from reading this is Dow Jones believes Fair Use and weak enforcement of copyright laws are impediments to their operations. It wants to set back the clock to the good ol' days of the news media oligopoly, when information was controlled by a small group of very profitable publishers. But as long as Twitterers, bloggers, and aggregators are able to talk about/reprint small excerpts of news reported by MSM outlets, that will lessen audiences dependence upon the large outlets and keep ad rates down.
Yes that is a funny image - and I agree with your overall point.
Following that quote is one of the most incoherent metaphors I have seen in a while: "It’s been barely a decade since the Internet bubble burst on the information highway to the digital future." That's almost 'internets and tubes' talk.
Sloppy thinking in this speech in general - embodies the 'middle-age dad trying to look cool' even as he seeks to warn others against that trap.
