Murdoch not seeking new newspapers

The News Corp annual general meeting in Los Angeles was brief, with Rupert Murdoch facing just three questions from shareholders.

headshot of News Corp founder, chair and CEO Rupert Murdoch

File image of Rupert Murdoch (AAP) Source: AAP

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.

Mr Murdoch, at News Corp's annual general meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday (US time), said his chief executive Robert Thomson had done a fantastic job in challenging digital giants Google and Facebook from allowing free access to the company's content.

"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," Mr Murdoch told shareholders.

The meeting took less than 30 minutes, a far cry from past AGMs that had more of the feel of a circus with curly shareholder questions.

Mr Murdoch faced just three questions.

"Not really. No," the 86-year-old News Corp executive chairman responded to a question about the company potentially purchasing more newspapers.

"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 The Courier Mail and globally has the New York Post, Barron's and The Sun in its stable.

Mr 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, Mr Murdoch said.

The final results will be released in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.


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Published 16 November 2017 11:44am
Source: AAP


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