News Corp. Puts Project Alesia Plans On Hold

Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp. has ceased all work on Project Alesia – the aggregated news content delivery program conceived back in March to rival Google News.  News Corp. planned to launch a variety of different newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, across the entire digital landscape — particularly on the iPad and Google Android system.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources claim that Project Alesia was “ahead of its time” and while News. Corp did their work in setting a price points for digital sales, “other publications are not as far on.”

Around 100 workers participated in the development of Project Alesia, 80 of whom are freelancers and are expected to be let go.  The remaining employees will be reassigned.

For those of you who were wondering, Alesia was the city seized by Julius Caesar and the Roman army in 52 BC.  That victory paved the way for Roman dominance in Gaul for centuries.  I guess Google News just has a better security system than those Gallic tribes did.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.