News Corp officials continue to rain down criticism on blogs and search engines. This time, it was Les Hinton, chief executive of News Corporation’s Dow Jones, speaking at the World Newspaper Congress in Hyderabad, India.

“We are allowing our journalism – billions of dollars worth of it every year – to leak onto the internet. We are surrendering our hard-earned rights to the search engines and aggregators, and the out and out thieves of the digital age.

“It is time to pause and recognise this – free costs too much.”

News Corp president Rupert Murdoch has not hidden his disdain for sites like Google, the search engine that Murdoch will withdraw from next summer.

While Mr. Hinton aired his grievances about online news, Murdoch spent the day discussing the evolution of journalism beyond the blogosphere. The Aussie newsman, speaking before a Federal Trade Commission Workshop, says that he is optimistic that traditional media conglomerates can best the online world in delivering instantaneous news.

Mobile DTV is key to his company’s strategy for remaining successful in the age of anytime, anywhere digital journalism.

Murdoch pointed out that News Corp. was working on a project to use a portion of broadcast spectrum to deliver TV, and perhaps newspapers, to mobile devices. In fact, he said that spectrum could provide a new economic vehicle for newspapers.

Today’s news consumers don’t want to be chained to a box in their homes or offices to get their news and entertainment, he said.