news corp

Type: Public
Founded: Adelaide, Australia (1979)
Headquarters: New York City, formerly in Adelaide, Australia
Key people: Rupert Murdoch, Peter Chernin, David DeVoe, Lawrence Jacobs
Industry: Mass media
Products: Film and television production, television networks, satellite television, newspapers and magazines, book publishing, sports, websites
Website: www.newscorp.com

General Information

News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS, NYSE: NWSa, ASX: NWS, LSE: NCRA) is one of the world's largest Media conglomerates. Its chief executive officer is Rupert Murdoch.

News Corporation is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange and as a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. Formerly incorporated in Adelaide, Australia, the company was re-incorporated in the United States state of Delaware after a majority of shareholders approved the move on November 12, 2004.

News Corporation's headquarters is at 1211 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Ave.), in New York City, in the newer 1960s-1970s corridor of the Rockefeller Center complex.

Revenue for the year ended June 30, 2005 was US$23.859 billion. This does not include News Corporation's share of the revenue of businesses in which it owns a minority stake, which include two of its most important assets, DirecTV and BSkyB. Almost 70% of the company's sales come from its US businesses.

History

News Corporation was created in 1980 by Rupert Murdoch as a holding company for News Limited. News Limited was created by Murdoch from the assets he inherited in 1952 following the death of his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, and subsequent expansion. The main asset left to him was ownership of the Adelaide News.

In 1986 and 1987, News Corp (through subsidiary News International) moved to adjust the production process of its British newspapers, over which the printing unions had long maintained a highly restrictive grip. A number of senior Australian media moguls were brought into Murdoch's powerhouse, including John Dux, who was managing director of the South China Post. This led to a confrontation with the printing unions NGA and SOGAT. The move of News International's London operation to Wapping in the East End resulted in nightly battles outside the new plant. Delivery vans and depots were frequently and violently attacked. Ultimately the unions capitulated.

Controversies

Over its many years and spheres of operation, News Corporation has attracted a number of allegations:

The Chris Patten Book – Chris Patten was a British politician who became the governor of Hong Kong just prior to its handover to China. A biography of Chris Patten was due to be published by Collins (part of News Corporation) but it was dropped. It was alleged that the reasoning behind the drop was due to the fact that it was critical of China's human rights. News Corporation was, at the time, trying to complete a deal regarding Star TV.

Media Monopoly - News Corporation is often accused of using the combined power of its consolidated media assets to push out rivals and push towards a media monopoly. An example of an accusation would be News Corporation's attempt to buy the football club Manchester United. In 1998 News Corp bid GB£623.4 million for the UK-based football club. Its fans were outraged and raised the question of an encroaching monopoly, as News Corporation owned the rights to broadcast all Premier League matches, of which Manchester United was one. It was alleged that by controlling Manchester United, News Corporation could influence the decisions about the selling of the rights to broadcast all Premier League matches.

Political Bias - Rupert Murdoch and Fox News have often been accused by media observers and the public of flagrant conservative bias. Attention is most often drawn to Fox News' coverage of the buildup to the Iraq invasion, which portrayed Saddam Hussein's possession of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' as a certainty, and his intention to use them as an inevitability. Coverage of the ensuing invasion barely mentioned opposition to the war either in America or Iraq. Further, Fox News and Rupert Murdoch periodically dispute these allegations of conservative bias.[citation needed] Many examples detailing this can be found in the left-wing documentary 'OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism' released in 2004.