????接下來一年中，米勒仍將為默多克提供建議，但我們尚不清楚他離開之后誰將充當(dāng)新聞集團(tuán)的數(shù)碼“夢想家”。就算新聞集團(tuán)不再啟動或收購新的數(shù)碼媒體資產(chǎn)，它仍然得面對現(xiàn)實(shí)，那就是：越來越多傳統(tǒng)媒體內(nèi)容正在走上網(wǎng)絡(luò)，只不過這種遷徙缺乏清晰可行的商業(yè)模式，無法保證能夠獲得利潤。要想發(fā)現(xiàn)此種商業(yè)模式，必須要有敏銳而精巧的商業(yè)頭腦。

????那么，新聞集團(tuán)的數(shù)碼業(yè)務(wù)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者究竟會是誰呢？很有可能是默多克本人——而他從未表現(xiàn)出對數(shù)碼媒體盈利方式的任何理解，他對用戶原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容的理解更是不堪想象，就連怎么使用Twitter這種簡單的技巧他都無法掌握，結(jié)果把自己的Twitter賬號變成了高管失語癥的典型案例。過去幾天里，默多克繼續(xù)用Twitter大發(fā)議論，抨擊“免費(fèi)、開放、無序的”互聯(lián)網(wǎng)扼殺了報(bào)紙，批評硅谷“沒有多少震撼人心的新發(fā)明”，并為Facebook“盈利困難，配不上這么高市值”而竊笑?？墒?，這么多年來的大力投資中，難道默多克自己拿出過什么讓人大開眼界的新發(fā)明嗎？他通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)盈利的計(jì)劃又在哪兒呢？換個(gè)角度說，他知道如何拯救自己旗下的報(bào)紙嗎？分拆報(bào)紙業(yè)務(wù)似乎更像是向他自己痛恨的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)低頭認(rèn)輸。

????就在他自己的“首席數(shù)碼官”離職的同一周，默多克竟然還在嘲笑數(shù)碼媒體，這實(shí)在頗具諷刺意味。換句話說，這反映了很多問題。如今這個(gè)時(shí)代，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)越來越強(qiáng)大，對媒體發(fā)行越來越重要，魯伯特?默多克也比以往更加缺乏明晰的方向。

????譯者:小宇

????Miller will continue to advise Murdoch for another year, but without his leadership, it's not clear who the digital visionary at News Corp. might be. Even if the company backs away from launching or buying new digital-media properties, it must still confront the reality that more of what we once called old media content is going online. Only it's migrating there without a clear, workable business model that can guarantee profits. And it will take a keen and cunning mind to find that business model.

????So who will News Corp.'s digital visionary be? Most likely, Murdoch himself -- a man who has never demonstrated any understanding of how to monetize digital media and whose idea of user-generated content is a dogged campaign to degrade the simple art of tweeting into an exercise inexecutive logorrhea. In the past few days on Twitter, Murdoch's rants have blamed the "free, open uncontrollable" Internet for killing newspapers, blasted Silicon Valley for "few new mind-blowing (sic) innovations" and tittered at Facebook for its "difficulty monetizing to justify (sic) market cap." But after years of heavy investments, which of Murdoch's innovations have blown our minds? Where are his plans to monetize online content? Or, for that matter, his plan to save his own newspapers? Spinning them off seems an admission of defeat to the Internet he loathes.

????It's ironic that Murdoch is sneering at digital media during the very week when his "chief digital officer" is stepping down. Or rather, it's telling. In an era when the Internet is becoming more and more powerful in distributing media, Rupert Murdoch's direction is more unclear than ever.