murdoch

MySpace, Facebook bantering at Web 2.0 conference

Recently, rumors have been flying over whether or not MySpace would use this week's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco as a venue for announcing a developer platform akin to Facebook's. Well, now we have a final answer: sort of.

MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch took the stage at Web 2.0 and confirmed that the company is working on a platform that will launch "within a couple of months." But when no date's given, expect delays: considering how long we ultimately waited for Windows Vista (and now, Apple'… Read more

Time to cut Rupert a break?

Let the hand wringing begin: Rupert's in charge.

As we are now aware, a $5 billion buyout bid from News Corp. for Dow Jones, parent of The Wall Street Journal, appears to have enough support from factions of the Bancroft family, which holds a majority stake in the company, apparently putting the coda on this three-month saga.

But we're only in the early innings when it comes to the grieving over the pending acquisition by Rupert Murdoch of one of the world's best newspapers. Normally, I'd let this story pass, but by virtue of News Corp.'… Read more

The New York Observer on the New York Times on News Corp.

There's something kind of funny about a blog entry around a recent article in one outlet indicating that another newspaper is working on an expose about yet another media outlet, but that really is what this post is about. According to Michael Calderone at the New York Observer, "The New York Times is currently undertaking a major news investigation, led by managing editor Jill Abramson, into News Corp.'s business dealings throughout the world, according to a source with knowledge of the project."

Amidst the heavily hyped negotiations between Murdoch's minions and the Bancroft family who currently own the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times has apparently decided to mount their own investigation in an effort to examine what should be expected from the possible merger. While there is no clear indication what spin the Times will put on the story, it seems unlikely that the paper will conclude that Rupert Murdoch is the patron saint of news media. The New York times is one of the last major independent media outlets (along with the Wall Street Journal - for now), and it's altogether possible that News Corp. may eventually set it's sites on the Times, so I think it is safe to anticipate that this article won't be a puff piece.

Report: News Corp. to trade MySpace for a stake in Yahoo?

Here's a rumor we didn't see coming. The U.K.'s The Times is reporting that News Corp., the Rupert Murdoch-helmed company that purchased MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, may be willing to trade it. According to Times writer Dan Sabbagh's article, News Corp. is mulling a swap of MySpace to Yahoo in exchange for a 25 percent stake in the dot-com.

Interestingly enough, The Times is itself owned by News Corp. The parent company is allegedly "interested in a deal even if it means losing some control of MySpace because it would give the … Read more

Murdoch promises 'journalistic integrity' at The Wall Street Journal

Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp. and owner of the tabloids The Sun in England and the New York Post, is promising to retain the journalistic integrity of The Wall Street Journal and its parent company Dow Jones if he succeeds in acquiring them for $5 billion.

In a letter sent over the weekend to members of the Bancroft family that owns the company, Murdoch asked to meet with the family and company officials. He assured them that he is "first and foremost" a "newspaper man." "I have also always respected the independence and … Read more

MySpace News: It was only a matter of time [UPDATE]

MySpace is preparing to launch an integrated news service--with self-aggregating content and social bookmarking--in the coming weeks. MySpace members will be able to post the stories on their profiles, discuss, promote, and submit their own written content to be seen and ranked by other MySpace users (see NewsVine). The new service is reminiscent of Digg and del.icio.us, with social bookmarking for news stories that can be promoted with user voting.

It was only a matter of time before this happened, considering MySpace has been owned by news mogul Rupert Murdoch since 2005 and gets 230,000 new registered users a day… Read more

Web news roundup: John McCain, Flip, Gmail, Amazon and TiVo, Ransomeware, Vodafone and MySpace

>> Senator to propose surveillance of illegal images. John McCain wants to give surveillance duty to your Internet service provider and to Web sites to crack down on child pornography. All questionable images would be flagged and sent to the authorities with your IP address. (CNET News.com)

>> Flip launches. Conde Nast's answer to MySpace and other social networks. The service, aimed at teenage girls, lets you create a scrapbook of sorts in the form of a flip book. Your flip book can then be shared on other services. (Mashable)

>> Gmail leaves beta. Lately … Read more

News Roundup: Google Video ads, AT&T IPTV, MySpace Mexico, Netscape 9.0

-- Google expands video ad test. Not to be confused with ads placed in user-generated videos on Google Video and YouTube, these video ads from Google will be embedded videos on the page that users must click on to begin. Google is now partnering with content providers such as The Wall Street Journal and Epicurious.com to bring Adsense video ads. (CNET News.com)

-- AT&T to ramp up IPTV rollouts. While Joost and Babelgum have made some noise among the blogs, the prospect of watching IPTV programming on an actual TV is coming closer to being a … Read more