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WSJ to charge for mobile access
MUMBAI: n a bid to generate more revenue streams, The Wall Street Journal is planning to charge for access to the newspaper on mobile devices such as the Blackberry and iPhone. |
he announcement was made by News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York. While expressing confidence towards the improvement of the ad market, Murdoch also predicted that newspapers on print would become extinct within the next 20-30 years. It is pertinent to note here that this move to charge the mobile readers comes at a time when the newspaper industry in the US is facing a crisis of survival with ad revenues and circulation falling or stagnating. Murdoch noted that the plan to charge for access to the newspaper on mobile devices will kick into action “in a month or two”. Under the plan, people who do not subscribe to the WSJ will pay $2 a week for mobile access while subscribers will pay $1 per week. Subscribers to both the print and online version of the paper will get mobile access for free. At the same conference Murdoch also stated that the company was thinking in terms of subscriptions and pay-per-view for online video site, Hulu. |
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
