Fijian ruler Frank Bainimarama said he has no regrets about the possible closure of The Fiji Times, which is own by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, The Australian reported.

In June, under a decree demanding media outlets to be 90 percent owned by Fijians citizens, the government gave The Fiji Times three months to change its ownership or close. Since 2006, when Bainimarama led a military coup, the media has been struggling as the government has tightened controls and censorship.

"The reasons have been explained in the media decree... I guess, like everything else, people need to toe the line, including The Fiji Times," Bainimarama said to The Australian while explaining that the measures will "bring about transparency to the media."

He also said the newspaper's management and News Limited should be held accountable for the loss of jobs because they knew about the decree before it came into force and have done nothing to comply with it.

According to Fiji's Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, there will be no amendments to the decree and no extensions will be given, FijiVillage.com informed.

Newspapers everywhere are taking a good hard look at paid content, and how, or whether, paywalls can benefit them. Rupert Murdoch's The Times and Sunday Times are being watched today, as they begin charging for online content - the first non-specialist newspapers in Britain to do so.

As online ad prices and paid circulation go down, all while online readership soars, experts predict many newspapers will continue trying out different types of online paid content models. Other newspapers will certainly look to thetimes.co.uk and sundaytimes.co.uk for lessons. Both sites will charge £1 for a daily subscription, or £2 for a weekly subscription.

"We believe the new sites offer real value and we look forward to continuing to invest and innovate for readers," said Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News International, News Corp's British subsidiary, Agence France-Presse reported today.

The basics of an online paid content business model are based on both attracting enough paying customers and serving high-yielding advertisements to that very dedicated audience.

Following the raising of paywalls across newspaper titles this month, News Corp is now putting its UK sports broadcaster, Sky Sports News, behind a paywall as well, MediaGuardian reported today.

BSkyB, which launched Sky Sports on Freeview eight years ago, is preparing to launch a new HD service. The move "marks a significant shift in BSkyB's attitude to the benefits of using the reach of the free-to-air service as a marketing channel to attract subscribers to its pay-TV service," and indicates BskyB may also put its website behind a paywall, according to the report. Sports fans will have to buy a subscription TV package to watch Sky Sports.
"As part of a subscription service, customers can look forward to expanded coverage and the launch of Europe's first HD sports news service," said Barney Francis, managiing director of Sky Sports, according to DigitalChoices.co.uk.

Sky Sports will be replaced on freeview with a "+1" time-shifted channel of Sky 3.

"I think it's another step in the chain of Murdoch deciding he won't give content away for free," Dominic Buch, an analyst at Numis, told the Financial Times.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has bought e-reading platform Skiff and purchased a share in Journalism Online, a company formed to enable newspapers, magazines, and online-only publishers to collect revenue from online readers.

Murdoch's acquisition of Skiff signifies another step in his effort to make online readers pay for content. Jon Miller, chief digital officer of News Corp., said "both Skiff and Journalism Online serve as key building blocks in our strategy to transform the publishing industry and ensure consumers will have continued access to the highest quality journalism."

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