Rupert Murdoch is used to talking tough. And earlier this month, before an audience of senior US newspaper editors, he did exactly that, warning that the media industry faces one of its greatest challenges so far: how to survive and thrive in the digital age.

In confessional mood, one of the world's most powerful media magnates admitted to having been "complacent" about how his 175 newspapers around the world should adapt to the internet. He said that he had been guilty of "quietly hoping that this thing called the digital revolution would simply go away".