Murdoch Says His Newspapers Are Struggling

Rupert Murdoch say News Corp is not looking to expand its newspaper empire, conceding digital advertising “has been tremendously damaging to print” and some of his papers were struggling.

According to The Guardian, Murdoch, speaking at News Corp’s annual general meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday, praised chief executive Robert Thomson for challenging digital giants Google and Facebook for allowing free access to the company’s content.

Rupert Murdoch

“So far I think we have done pretty well in replacing lost advertising revenue in the major papers, but it continues to be a big problem,” Murdoch told shareholders.

The meeting took less than 30 minutes, a far cry from past AGMs. Murdoch faced just three questions.

In response to a question about the company potentially purchasing more newspapers, the 86-year-old News Corp executive chairman said: “Not really. No. Our hands are pretty full making our existing papers viable.

“I think the big three successes we have are the three big national papers: the Wall Street Journal, the Times in London and the Australian.

“The other papers, a lot of them are still very viable, but they are struggling.”

News Corp publishes Australian newspapers including the Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Courier Mail; as well as the New York Post and, in the UK, the Sun.

Murdoch, his sons Lachlan and James, and other News Corp directors seeking re-election received “a majority” of electoral votes from shareholders according to the preliminary report, Murdoch said.

The final results will be released in a US securities and exchange commission filing.