The advent of Digital Natives is not only having an impact on classrooms and curriculum delivery. Their presence is being felt on other fronts as well. Rupert Murdoch in his address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in April 2005 spoke to the phenomenon of Digital Natives and the impact they are having on the newspaper industry.

In his speech he quotes a Carnegie Corporation study that showed that "there's a dramatic revolution taking place in the news business today".³⁸ This revolution, according to the report is being fueled "by technological savvy young people [who are] no longer wedded to traditional news outlets or even accessing news in the traditional ways".³⁹ Young people between the ages of 18 and 34 "are increasingly using the "Internet, and more specifically, internet portals"⁴⁰ to access the news of the day.

Murdoch feels that Digital Native's use of Blogs, message boards and Wikis has resulted in a generation who "want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it".⁴¹ As a result he argues newspapers are being challenged to deliver the news in a format that is pertinent to Digital Natives. But before the industry can do so, editors and journalists must free their minds of "prejudices and predispositions and start thinking like our newest consumers"⁴² , Digital Natives.

He then goes on to outline all the ways that newspapers and their delivery must change in order to attract this new wave of consumer. Rupert Murdoch sees this new challenge as a test for the industry and its way of doing business. But he finishes off with this: "We may never become true Digital Natives, but we can and must begin to assimilate to their culture and way of thinking."⁴³

Read Merrill Brown's report
about how Digital Natives are:

Abandoning the news