Carbon Neutral News Corporation

Rupert Murdoch has announced that News Corporation will be carbon neutral by 2010. You may be tempted to think of this as a corporate gesture, a gimmick without much substance, but take a look at their Energy Initiative Webcast.

Rupert Murdoch and his senior executives are interviewed in the webcast (Peter Chernin, James Murdoch, Rebekkah Wade, and a dozen others) and they are committed to transforming the way the company does business. Murdoch himself is clearly on message. As he says "We must transform the way we use energy... acting on this issue is simply good business". He outlines many specific targets and recognises that they have a lot to do. Introducing digital editions of the News Corporation magazines and newspapers has to be a part of that change, which as Murdoch sees will effect consumer behaviour and open new markets.

Getting the web to work for media businesses is important and high profile. Kate Fehrenbacher at GigaOM puts her finger on some of the key issues.