News Corp


Tweeting Rupert skips earnings grilling from analysts, hacks

For the second straight quarter, News Corp’s executive chairman and controlling shareholder Rupert skipped the quarterly earnings call with analysts and journalists this morning.

How about a Rupert tweet on Sir Rod’s surprise gong?

The fact that Rupert Murdoch has board approval to tweet away is surprising, if only because it is amazing that he still holds a leadership position at News Corp.

The waters of Data Pool 3 may yet swallow Rupert himself

The scandal that continues to swell around Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in the United Kingdom features all the trappings of a flood that keeps breaking through hastily built barriers to wreak new inundations, writes David Ritter from London.

News settles phone-hacking payouts, but story still has legs

Any hope that paying out big money will help end the trouble is surely misplaced.

Media briefs: News’ new law … NT News and Homer … Age’s ad love …

New legal advice for News Corp … NT News channels Homer … The Age’s advertising love … Front Page of the Day … Leveson inquiry: Sun editor gets a light grilling …

Political snippets: No mad shopping spree for Aussies

Australians certainly did not go on an early pre-Christmas shopping spree.

A Christmas message from Rupert Murdoch (really)

Wow! What a year of events, good and bad, marvels Rupert Murdoch. (This is real.)

Murdoch, Baillieu and Morgan: a story of old Melbourne families

Melbourne marked an interesting milestone last week.

Media briefs: Col Allan return? … Hun’s risque Quiz Master … AFR revolution …

Col Allan’s return to earth … Herald Sun’s %#@% of a Quiz Master. … Front Page of the Day … The Department of Corrections … AFR launches “revolution” campaign and tells readers: We weren’t good enough …

Political snippets: A little Murdoch corporate welfare

The eagle eye of my colleague Glenn Dyer noticed this little report in The Sydney Morning Herald: “News Corp takes Tax Office to task over $2b losses”.

On Murdoch’s News Corp share sale, timing is everything

As any investor knows timing in investment is everything, just ask Rupert Murdoch and his new big shareholder, the aggressive US hedge funder, John Paulson.

James Murdoch escapes, but leaves many hostages

News International chair James Murdoch is either a liar or an utterly incompetent executive. Those are the only two conclusions you can take away from his evidence to the House of Commons select committee.

Record protests as News Corp shareholders get rankings dead right

The News Corporation votes are in and the record protest votes have duly been delivered. Records were smashed with as much as 80% of the independent shareholders voting to remove the Murdoch boys.

News Corp AGM: no doddery old men, or foam pies

Rupert Murdoch was pretty fast and combative, much better than the doddery old man at the parliamentary committee.

The most dramatic News Corp AGM since Maxwell came to town

For those Australians who like to rise early, set the alarm for 4am on Saturday and then go here to register for the webcast of what should be a cracking 2011 News Corporation AGM.

Hun comments reveal: News Corp 4th worst performer in ASX50

The short-term performance of News Corp might look OK, but a longer-term horizon tells a very different story.

Political snippets: An opportunity missed.

If the Labor Government really does believe that using Nauru to process boat people would not work as a deterrent to people smugglers then why the hell didn’t it agree with Tony Abbott’s proposed legislative amendment?

Circulation scandals at News Corp

Boosting newspaper circulation is hardly a new thing, but in terms of cheating the numbers News Corp is in a league of its own, writes Frédéric Filloux.

Crikey Says: Another wheel falls off Murdoch train wreck

Should it surprise anyone that the corporate culture that produced industrial-scale phone hacking in Britain was also at work elsewhere? Hardly.

The power of Rupert: AMP wimps it on News Corp

So why did AMP, which manages $158 billion of investments, pull its punches on News Corp?

Media briefs: frankie‘s internship Fiesta … Simpsons: the end?

Is nothing sacred? Rupert Murdoch’s Fox TV wants the voice actors on The Simpsons to take a 45% pay cut, which has put a question mark over the future of the series, which started in 1988. Plus other media news.

Project Humble: help Crikey help News Ltd rebrand

News Ltd are rebranding, starting with a name change to News Australia. And at Crikey, we’re here to help. Or more importantly, you are.

Changes in the offing at News as Rupert prepares to visit Oz?

Rupert Murdoch is due to visit Australia in the first fortnight of October.

Simons: what the News Ltd rebranding exercise tells us

Leaving aside all the marketing gobbledygook, the significant things come under four headings in News Ltd’s rebranding document.

Crikey Says: Crikey says: News Limited is no more

News Limited is no more, with Rupert Murdoch’s Australian empire to adopt a new name and extensive marketing strategy to counter an “arrogant” public perception, according to confidential documents leaked exclusively to Crikey.