RUPERT MURDOCH

Rupert Murdoch, the world's most high-profile media mogul, stopped by The Wall Street Journal newsroom on Wednesday for the first time since his News Corp. sealed a $5.6 billion (2.8 billion pound) deal to buy publisher Dow Jones & Co.

News Corp. will not pull its television shows from Apple's iTunes as rival media group NBC Universal has done over a pricing dispute, President Peter Chernin said in an interview on Tuesday. He said News Corp was not in a dispute with Apple, though it would like a bigger voice in pricing its shows.

News Corp's Internet social network, MySpace, and Viacom Inc's MTV will host discussions with candidates and Internet viewers.

Dow Jones & Co Inc Chief Executive Richard Zannino said on Friday that a worsening credit market likely would force the company to pay more to refinance debt.

News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch has said he might make the Wall Street Journal's Web site free, a shift that could compel Britain's Pearson to do the same with the online version of its Financial Times.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp on Wednesday said fourth-quarter profit rose 4.5 percent on higher advertising sales and affiliate revenue from the Fox News Channel and on more new subscribers at the Sky Italia satellite TV service.

Media mogul and owner of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch has come a step closer to clinching ownership of the Wall Street Journal's publisher, Dow Jones, after key members of the controlling Bancroft family switched sides to back his $5 billion takeover bid.

News Corp. said on Wednesday that it would buy Dow Jones & Co Inc. for $5.6 billion, adding the Wall Street Journal to its worldwide media empire and ending a century of family ownership of one of the top U.S. business news sources.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is likely to secure a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co. Inc. on Tuesday after drawing the support of a sufficient number of votes held by the company's controlling family, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said on Monday it is highly unlikely to proceed with its $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co. Inc. unless it wins more support from Dow Jones's controlling family. The comment from a News Corp. spokesman pushed Dow Jones shares down as much 8.5 percent.

A key branch of the Bancroft family plans to vote against accepting News Corp's $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co Inc, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

The family that controls Dow Jones & Co expects to decide by early next week if it wants to sell the company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for $5 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Members of the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones & Co. Inc., may decide by the end of the week whether to accept a $5 billion offer by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

The public editor at the New York Times on Sunday castigated the newspaper for not writing enough about its owner -- the Ochs-Sulzberger family -- and whether it will succumb to the same pressure that forced The Wall Street Journal into the grasp of Rupert Murdoch.

Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan outlined a new proposal on Friday to keep Dow Jones & Co Inc out of Rupert Murdoch's hands, saying his plan could help boost the stock price to above $100.

Dow Jones & Co. Inc. board member David Li, a prominent Hong Kong banker, may face civil charges in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading investigation linked to News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for the U.S. media company.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to file civil charges against Dow Jones & Co. Inc. board member David Li over an insider trading probe linked to News Corp.'s bid for the media company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The board of Dow Jones & Co. Inc. endorsed on Tuesday a $5 billion buyout offer from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., sending the deal to the controlling Bancroft family for final approval.

Christopher Bancroft, part of the family that controls Dow Jones, is trying to block a takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a source familiar with the situation said on Monday, confirming a story reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Dow Jones & Co. , in talks for a takeover by News Corp., met with supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan on Tuesday in an effort to find an alternative offer, a source familiar with the situation said.

Rupert Murdoch, who is pursuing a $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co., will be the center of attention when the world's biggest media chiefs gather this week at the 25th annual Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.