News Corp Ltd

Rupert Murdoch's bid for Dow Jones & Co. ran into more resistance Sunday as a large Dow Jones shareholder said he strongly opposed News Corp.'s bid to take over the financial news publisher, which owns the Wall Street Journal. Jim Ottaway Jr., a former Dow Jones board member, said in a statement posted on the Journal's website that a Murdoch takeover would lead to the "loss of the independence and integrity of a leading national editorial voice."

The hit movie "Night at the Museum" helped News Corp. realize a 6% increase in third-quarter profit -- and investors sought assurance Wednesday that the company's bid for Dow Jones & Co. didn't presage a major change in strategy. Chairman Rupert Murdoch told shareholders during a conference call that News Corp. wasn't looking at other big acquisitions and that the company would continue a popular stock buyback program even if Dow Jones & Co.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch continued to spar Monday with foes of his proposed takeover of Dow Jones & Co. who have contended that he would compromise the journalistic integrity of the Wall Street Journal. In a letter to members of the Bancroft family, which controls Journal parent Dow Jones, Murdoch wrote that "maintaining the heritage of independence and journalistic integrity" at the second-largest U.S. newspaper "would be of utmost importance to me and to News Corp."

Rupert Murdoch's dream of owning the Wall Street Journal moved closer to reality Thursday when the family that controls the paper's parent company agreed to meet with him after snubbing the $5-billion bid he had made a month ago. The Bancrofts said they had decided that Dow Jones & Co. might be better off allying with Murdoch's News Corp. or another company.

Investors bet Friday that the Wall Street Journal would not only be sold, but also fetch a higher price than what's on the table. Stock in Dow Jones & Co., owner of the Journal and other financial media, jumped $7.89 to $61.20, the highest price in more than five years. The Bancroft family that controls the media company has rejected a bid of $60 a share, or $5 billion, from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle has agreed to advise a union representing Dow Jones & Co. employees in crafting a bid that would keep the company from being sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., his representatives said Tuesday. The grocery store magnate has not pledged to financially back a bid for the owner of the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which is making a $5-billion bid for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co., said it planned to sell nine of its Fox-affiliated TV stations. The stations are generally in the smallest markets among News Corp.'s 35-station television group, including stations in Greensboro, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Birmingham, Ala.

Negotiators for General Electric Co. and Britain's Pearson stepped up efforts Monday to form a rival bid for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. as an alternative to billionaire Rupert Murdoch's $5-billion offer.

Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's odds of landing Dow Jones & Co. increased substantially Wednesday, when the family that controls the financial publishing empire said it would defer to company directors in sale negotiations. The Bancroft family also will stop crafting a proposal to protect the editorial independence of the company's flagship property, the Wall Street Journal, a person close to the Bancrofts confirmed. Debate over that proposal within the family had slowed talks.

Fears that Rupert Murdoch would jeopardize the editorial independence of the Wall Street Journal have been a key sticking point in the News Corp. chairman's proposed $5-billion takeover of the newspaper's parent, Dow Jones & Co. Critics cite as the latest example of those dangers Murdoch's little-noticed introduction in China of his red-hot MySpace Internet property. Launched in April, MySpace China censors user comments on the social-networking site more than is necessary, analysts say.