No Plans To Sell UK Newspapers, Murdoch Insists

Both the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times newspapers have reported that executives at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation are making plans about how to split off the company’s British newspapers in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. While The Sun, The Times of London and The Sunday Times make up less than 3 percent of the company’s $33.4 billion revenues, the ongoing investigation into the scandal has disproportionately damaged the company’s reputation.

News Corp. is said to be in the very early stages of creating a trust to manage its newspaper assets; of pursuing a joint venture with a media partner; or simply selling the papers to private equity.

A News International spokesperson emphasized that “There are absolutely no plans to put News International into a separate trust.”

The Daily Telegraph notes that one reason News Corp. is interested in letting go of its troubled newspaper arm is so it can restart its bid to control broadcasting company BSkyBMedia. News Corp. was on the verge of making a bid to take over BSkyB around the time it was revealed that staff at its News of the World tabloid had hacked into the voicemail of a murdered 13-year-old, Milly Dowler, before her body was found. Murdoch closed the 168-year paper last July and the scandal has dogged the company ever since, though News Corp.’s profits do not seem to have been affected.

Murdoch, News Corp.’s chief who began his media career in the newspaper business in Australia, has made it clear that he has no intentions of letting go of the three British newspapers. As he said in a statement:

News Corporation remains firmly committed to our publishing businesses, including News International, and any suggestion to the contrary is wholly inaccurate. Publishing is a core component of our future.

Murdoch has been mum on his Twitter feed (he has not posted since May 14, as of this posting) about the possible spinning off of the three papers.

According to the Daily Telegraph, News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey has “already acknowledged the company would be worth more if it did not own News International.”

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Carl O.

1:05PM PDT on May 21, 2012

Rupert Murdoch's propaganda machine called News Corporation has no plans to sell of its newspapers in the UK is not news. A Recent study from Farleigh Dickinson University determined that viewers of FOX News are less knowledgeable about current events than those we do not watch the news at all due to FOX Minister of Propaganda Roger Ailes non-stop manure spreading machine. He is a Josef Goebbels for the 21st entury. It is time that intelligent and informed citizens start thinking outisde the FOX.

May 21
send a green star

Chris C.

12:29PM PDT on May 21, 2012

Murdoch and his spawn and all companies he is associated with should go down! That includes Faux News!

Patty B.

11:24AM PDT on May 21, 2012

Living proof that Satan walks this earth.

11:23AM PDT on May 21, 2012

He does what Wendy tells him to do .
Ban all things that reek Murdock.

Bill E.

9:52AM PDT on May 21, 2012

Murdoch's empire plans to bloody well continue business as usual.

Mary K.

8:31AM PDT on May 21, 2012

Please, Murdoch truthful? Sure, like Koch Bros. isn't invested in the Keystone Pipeline. Never, ever trust a right-wing conservative in England, or a repub/tparty in the U.S. Especially in the next few months before the elections, the repub/tparty will go full tilt with their manipulated rhetoric. Vote Democratic in all elections.

Jeffrey H.

7:56AM PDT on May 21, 2012

Rupert and James Murdoch should be going to a British prison for cell phone hacking, destruction of evidence, and bribing Scotland Yard and then extradited to the U.S. to do more prison time for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and celll phone and computer hacking.

The Murdochs and their hired hacks have already sold their souls to the Devil.

Don H.

4:08AM PDT on May 21, 2012

Murdoch promotes Fascism.

Keep that in mind if you are foolish enough to rely on Fox or the WSJ for information.

Past Member .

4:04AM PDT on May 21, 2012

"No plans" - those weasel words.

Sue H.

9:55AM PDT on May 20, 2012

This disgusting man should not be allowed to sell anything related to his "empire" after the illegal things he allowed to happen. He should be tarred and feathered.