News Corporation

News Corporation describes itself as "a constellation of media businesses, News Corporation's global operations encompass the fields of filmed entertainment, newspapers, pay and free-to-air television, cable network programming, book publishing, magazines and consumer marketing." 

Saudi ownership
Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal is a major shareholder in News Corporation, the corporate parent of Fox News in the United States. Right-wing media watchdog group Accuracy in Media claimed in December 2005 that the Saudi prince was using his influence as a major shareholder to put pressure on Fox News about its coverage of the riots in France. Accuracy in Media wrote, "At the annual meeting of News Corporation, parent of Fox News, chairman Rupert Murdoch confirmed that a call from a Saudi Prince had resulted in a change in how the Fox News Channel covered the Muslim riots in France in 2005. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a significant investor in News Corporation, told Murdoch he objected to highlighting the Muslim role in the riots. Murdoch said the change was made after it was determined that there was a Catholic role in the riots."

Major political donations to Republican interests
In June, 2010, News Corp donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. Later that summer, it also donated $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, another pro-GOP group.

Mission Statement
"Just as our assets span the world, our vision spans art and humor, audacity and compassion, information and innovation - whether in an American television series, an Indian game show, an Australian newspaper, an English sports broadcast or an international box-office hit," the company website states.

"Every day, hundreds of millions of people are entertained and enlightened by the authors and actors, printers and producers, reporters and directors who fulfill our mission. That mission remains unchanged after half a century of expansion and improvement: the creation and distribution of top-quality news, sports and entertainment around the world," it states.

Bias and Misrepresentation
A year-long study released in October 2003 showed that Americans who relied on the Fox News Channel for their coverage of the Iraq war were the most likely to believe misinformation about the war, whatever their political affiliation may be. Those mistaken facts, the study found, increased viewers' support for the war. Note that these beliefs were not simply biased, they were based on demonstrably incorrect facts.

More on the PIPA study at the Fox News page.

Other lists, likely more up-to-date
A comprehensive timetable on the evolution of News Corporation, up to July 2007, is available at http://www.ketupa.net/murdoch2.htm.

A detailed listed of News Corporation business interests - up to date to June 2007 - is at http://www.ketupa.net/murdoch1.htm

As of July 2011, the list below is incomplete, particularly for newspapers; see instead Wikipedia's page on News Corporation ('Holdings' section).

Filmed Entertainment
Fox Consumer Products, Fox Interactive, Fox Studios Australia, Fox Television Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Licensing And Merchandising, Twentieth Century Fox Television

Television
British Sky Broadcasting Ltd, FOX Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports, FOXSports.com, Fox Television Stations, Inc., FOXTEL, News Corporation Limited Japan, Sky Latin America (SKY Brasil Serviços Ltda., Innova, Sky Multi Country), SKY PerfecTV!, STAR (Channel [V], ESPN STAR Sports, National Geographic Channel Asia, Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd.), Twentieth Television

Cable Network Programming
Fox News Channel, Fox Cable Networks Group (Fox Sports Net, FX Networks)

Magazines and Inserts
News America Marketing, Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc., the Weekly Standard

Newspapers

 * New York Post
 * News International plc
 * News Limited
 * The Times (London) and The Sunday Times

Book Publishing
HarperCollins, Zondervan

Other Assets
NDS Group PLC, Chinabyte.com, News Interactive

On December 22, 2003 News Corporation finalised a $US6billion bid to take a controlling stake in Hughes Electronics and its US pay TV operation, DirecTV. "Now, with the addition of DirecTV, Murdoch has the last piece in a global distribution system that is unparalleled - and he will be rolling out a swag of new channels to run on that system. If you are a content company like Viacom, Disney or Time Warner, at some point in the future you will depend upon Murdoch to run your programs around the world," Chenoweth wrote. 

Corporate Officers

 * K. Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation
 * José María Aznar, President Foundation for Social Studies and Analysis (FAES) and former President of Spain
 * Peter Barnes, former president of Philip Morris Asia
 * Chase Carey, Non-Executive Director, News Corporation
 * Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation
 * Kenneth E. Cowley, Chairman, Independent Newspapers Limited
 * David F. DeVoe, Chief Financial Officer, News Corporation
 * Viet Dinh, a professor of law at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
 * Rod Eddington, Chief Executive, British Airways
 * Andrew S.B. Knight, Director, Rothschild Investment Trust C.P.
 * Lachlan Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation
 * Roderick R. Paige, Founder and Chairman of Chartwell Education Group, LLC
 * Thomas J. Perkins, Partner, Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers
 * Arthur M. Siskind, Group General Counsel, News Corporation
 * John L. Thornton, Professor of Global Leadership, Tsinghua University of Beijing

Former Directors

 * Geoffrey C. Bible, Chairman, Wagga Enterprise
 * Juho Aatos Michel Erkko, Chairman, SanomaWSOY Corporation
 * James Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, STAR Group
 * Stanley S. Shuman, Executive Vice President & Managing Director,Allen & Company, Inc.
 * Graham Kraehe

Public Relations staff and consultants

 * Greg Baxter, Director, Corporate Affairs

O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that in March 2005 News Corporation disclosed in its federal filing that it had hired the Glover Park Group for "advocacy & image advertising, media relations, issues & crisis management and research". 

Contact details
Website: http://www.newscorp.com/index2.html

External articles

 * Neil Chenoweth, "Malone, Murdoch's new best friend", Australian Financial Review, January 27, 2004.
 * Neil Chenoweth, "The man the Murdoch children fear", Australian Financial Review, January 31, 2004.
 * Neil Chenoweth and Sean Aylmer, "Malone loosens Murdoch's grip on News", Australian Financial Review, January 23, 2004.
 * Geraldine Fabrikant, "News Corp. Plans to Follow Its Chief to the United States," New York Times, April 7, 2004: "Rupert Murdoch, who gave up his Australian citizenship 19 years ago to become a United States citizen, plans something similar for the News Corporation, the media empire his family controls. ... The company, whose holdings include The New York Post and the 20th Century Fox movie studio, will reincorporate in the United States, where it earns about 75 percent of its revenue and profit. News Corporation hopes the move, which includes shifting its primary stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange from the Australian exchange, will lure a wider investor base and give it access to lower-cost capital."
 * Edward Jay Epstein, "Rupert Murdoch Strikes Back: His bold plan to give away 20 million digital video recorders", Slate, June 14, 2005.
 * Seth Sutel, "News Corp. starts Internet unit", San Diego Union Tribune, July 15, 2005. (This is an Associated Press story).
 * Jim Snyder, "NewsCorp. marshals Lobbyists", The Hill, August 10, 2005.
 * Tony Walker and Colleen Ryan, "Murdoch's long march hits Chinese wall", Australian Financial Review, August 25, 2005. (Sub req'd).
 * Stephen Lendman, "Big Media and The New World Order: The Murdoch Empire", Global Research, February 7, 2008.