Murdoch discusses his control over his UK media

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said he maintains editorial control over which political party his British newspapers The Sun and News of the World support in UK general elections.

But Murdoch said he takes a different approach with his other national newspapers in Britain: The Times and Sunday Times. While he often asks what these papers are doing, he said he never instructs them or interferes.

Murdoch's comments came in an interview with Britain's House of Lords Communications Committee, which traveled to New York on Sept. 17 as part of its inquiry into media ownership and the news.

In addition to Murdoch, the committee met privately with officials from U.S. papers such as The New York Times and TV stations such as Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. On Friday, the committee issued minutes of its discussions in New York.

News Corp.'s assets in the U.S. include the Fox cable business, the 20th Century Fox film studio and the New York Post. It also owns the MySpace social networking site and has agreed to acquire Dow Jones & Co., owner of The Wall Street Journal, for about US$5 billion.

Outlining Murdoch's account of his editorial control over his British papers, the Communications Committee said: "He distinguishes between The Times and The Sunday Times and The Sun and the News of the World (and makes the same distinction between the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal).

"For The Sun and News of the World, he explained that he is a 'traditional proprietor.' He exercises editorial control on major issues _ like which party to back in a general election or policy on Europe."

The minutes said: "Murdoch did not disguise the fact that he is hands on both economically and editorially. He says that 'the law' prevents him from instructing the editors of The Times and The Sunday Times. The independent board is there to make sure he cannot interfere and he never says, 'do this or that,' although he often asks 'what are you doing?'"

The committee said his appointment of editors at The Times and The Sunday Times must be approved by the board.

Murdoch said Sky News _ the UK TV news station operated by BSkyB, which is 39 percent owned by a subsidiary of News Corp. _ could be more popular if it emulated his Fox News Channel in America.

Fox News is considered as more partisan than UK news broadcasters, but Murdoch said Britain's impartiality rules would not prevent Sky News from becoming more like Fox. The only reason that hasn't already happened, he said, is that "nobody at Sky listens to me."

Regarding the future of the world's print media, Murdoch said the younger generation is getting its news from the Internet.

"Young people are not turning to physical papers for their news. This is particularly true in the U.S. but applies in the UK, too," the minutes said. "Murdoch has tried various ways to reverse this trend but with little success. His job, therefore, is to get the young to visit the Web sites of his papers."

He said Yahoo is the most-read news site and if one analyzes what news stories are read most on Yahoo, it is always "soft" news stories.

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On the Net: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload.us.doc