Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, June 28, 2012

News Corp. Split: Board Approves Breaking Company In Two

NEW YORK — The board of directors at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has approved a plan that calls for splitting the global media conglomerate into two separate companies, one holding its newspaper business and another its entertainment operations, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.

The Journal, which is News Corp.'s flagship newspaper, cited a person familiar with the situation saying the board voted unanimously to approve the plan. It said the move is expected to be announced early Thursday.

News Corp. spokeswoman Julie Henderson had no comment on the report.

The New York-based company confirmed Tuesday that it was weighing the plan. Its stock has jumped 11 percent since the news of the proposed split emerged.

Under the proposal, News Corp. will be divided into two publicly traded companies. One entity will operate as a newspaper and book publishing firm. The other will be an entertainment company that includes Fox News channel, the Fox broadcast TV network and the 20th Century Fox movie studio.

The publishing side is expected to be much smaller, with some analysts valuing it at about $5 billion, compared to the current market value for News Corp. as a whole of about $54 billion.

Industry analysts say the faster growing pay-TV segment would be valued more highly by new investors not willing to buy shares in a company burdened by a newspaper industry in decline.

A question remains, however, about which entity would bear the financial risks of the ongoing U.K. probe into phone hacking and bribery. Besides legal costs, News Corp. also faces potential fines in the U.S. under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which punishes companies that have bribed officials abroad.

British authorities have been probing allegations that News Corp. journalists at its now-shuttered News of the World and other papers hacked into phones and bribed public officials to gain exclusive information.

The splitting of News Corp. would be a symbolic turning point for its 81-year-old CEO. Murdoch's media empire was built on the foundation of a single Australian newspaper he inherited from his father.

Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: AP

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