WSJ, Fox Parent Corp. Loses $6.4 Billion

Here are some excerpts from a longer AP article:

News Corp. loses $6.4 billion in 2Q

By RYAN NAKASHIMA

LOS ANGELES (AP) - News Corp., the global media giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said Thursday it lost $6.4 billion in its most recent quarter because of a massive write-down in the value of its assets.

The New York-based company, which owns The Wall Street Journal and the Fox broadcast network, also forecast a 30 percent drop in operating profits for the fiscal year to June from a year ago, when it earned $5.13 billion. . .

. . . Murdoch, the chief executive who controls more than a third of the company's shares, blamed the bleak outlook on falling advertising revenue and the impact of weak consumer sentiment on DVD and book sales.

He told analysts the results were ``a direct reflection of the recession that is deeper than anyone predicted'' and called it the worst global economic crisis News Corp. had seen since its founding more than 50 years ago.

``We are doing everything we possibly can to position ourselves to emerge stronger when the economy returns to some semblance of normalcy,'' he said.

News Corp. also said it had cut 800 positions across its Fox properties, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, in moves that it expected to save $400 million a year. The Wall Street Journal said Thursday it is cutting about two dozen newsroom positions.

Murdoch added that the company was aiming to save more than $10 million a year by combining the backroom operations of its newspapers in Australia, and at The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, while renegotiating distribution contracts in the U.S.