Apology from rw

Due to other issues of greater immediate importance i have not had the time to keep up with the activities of RM.

To those who wish to keep up with Immediate News regarding this man and his activities may i suggest adding “Rupert Murdoch” , “News Corporation” & “Fox News” to your Google Alerts (or similer Key word subscription service).

If and when I feel something comes up that may be more important than usual i will post here but overall I do most of my blogging on my other blog at www.wwjbwhatwouldjesusblog@blogspot.com .

Thank you for reading and if you have more time or interest in this subject and would like to become a co-webmaster of this blog please apply at jesusofzion@yahoo.com .

`rw`

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Rupie buys “MyTerroristSpace.com”?

Yes, I realize This site is rather infrequently updated.. and again i admit it is not my prime Blog which is wwjbwhatwouldjesusblog@blogspot.com .. but today’s featured story is a humor piece I found that was just published yesterday and I thought it was pretty funny.. yet made a valid point (the best humor tends to do this).

Sunday, August 24, 2008
Murdoch Buys MyTerroristSpace.com For $1.3 Billion

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch today told a hastily assembled New York news conference that he has purchased burgeoning terrorism social networking site MyTerroristSpace.com for $1.3 billion.

“We’re very excited to bring this exciting site into the News Corp. fold,” Murdoch said, “joining MySpace, Fox News, and the rest of our products and services. Now terrorists worldwide have a place of their own.”

MyTerroristSpace.com was founded by two aging members of the German 1970s Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, when one, a woman, emailed the other, a man, “Does this bomb make me look fat?”

“Terrorists are some of the lonelinest people in the world,” Murdoch said. “They cannot reveal their true identities to their spouses and families, often for years, if they are part of sleeper cells. They find it difficult to communicate because they are afraid that governments are spying on their email and phone calls. The benefit of this site is that they all can now find each other, share tips and targets, and generally overcome the sense of loneliness that the role of terrorist creates.”

Members of MyTerroristSpace.com can post favorite targets, weapons, enemies, and cover stories. A special encryption feature ensures privacy from all government agencies worldwide.

“Only actual terrorists can register for the site, which is free,” Murdoch said. “Our revenue comes from our advertisers–weapons manufacturers, terrorist recruiters, and realtors.”

When asked about the morality about profiting from terror, Murdoch replied, “You should take a look at CNN. Al Qaeda attacked the U.S. only once. CNN, with its constant emphasis on potential terrorism, attacks the U.S. every day.”
Posted by Michael Levin at THE FUNNIEST BLOG IN AMERICA

HERE ARE A FEW REAL STORIES IN THE NEWS and BLOGS (Just click on headline to be taken to the story)

* Rupert Murdoch Buys Minority Stake in Columbus’ Palestra.com

Heading back to college this fall? Rupert Murdoch will be waiting.

* Rothschild Steps Into The Light

* Newscorp-owned Myspace censors song-“Kill Bill O’Reilly” by East Coast Avengers

* The Celebrity Political Money Trail

* Two years on and still no London freesheet winner

* Bias of American Media – Influence of Media Money

* Murdoch Earned $27.1 Million As Overall Compensation Fell

BE LOVE & BE LOVED!
& keep on RupieWatchin’!
*rw* (aka JoZ)

Newslinks to be method of featuring stories:

There are so many stories becomming available about the activities of RM that I have decided due to time constraints and because this is only my secondary blog to offer you information by mostly providing links to the various stories with a header as to what the story concerns.

I will occasionally write personal opinion and speculation but the main objective here is to STAY INFORMED. If anything seems worthy of posting in full I will do so.. otherwise I will simply post as NEWSLINKS (date) and then list stories I suggest you read. This will also avoid potential copyright problems as I understand some news services may create future problems if I reprint anything of their work.. even though I do have available the FAIR USE NOTICE which does allow reprinting under certain conditions…. However I think this Link Method will be sufficient and it will also allow me to link you to stories BY NEWS CORP on occasion without fear of reprisal.

So here are todays RUPIENEWS Stories for you rupiewatchers and because I am trying a new Link Feature as a test I have included the actual text link also (if all the links work right I will not be placing the text links hereafter)

Thank you for helping me keep an eye on Rupert and the Media world in general. Things keep rapidly changing in our world lately on many fronts and keeping up is getting ever more difficult. If readers find a story, blog or editorial they feel should be included here please feel free to leave it by comment and i will check it out. *rw*

Power Olympics of the rich & famous in Beijing:
Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Power_Olympics_of_the_rich__famous_in_Beijing/articleshow/3370205.cms

News Corp. Takes NDS Private
Media Giant Reduces Ownership Position in Security Vendor
Link:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6587752.html?desc=topstory

Big media exiles seek Web stars
Jon Miller and Ross Levinsohn are searching for online stars – that their old employers will one day buy.
Link:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/15/technology/siklos_online_media.fortune/

Who are traditional media moguls going to call for the next MySpace?
Link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080815.IBSIKLOS15/TPStory/Business

FOX MODIFIES WHAT’S IMPORTANT.. Again…

Fox News Host Refuses To Talk About Russia-Georgia War,
Insists On Covering Edwards’ Affair»

By: SATVAM
Link: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/09/fox-news-edwards/

Yesterday, Russia launched a major military offensive against Georgia, which Georgia has called “a state of war.” Nearly two thousand people have died and the conflict risks sparking a wider war. Also yesterday, former senator John Edwards admitted to having an extramarital affair in 2006.

Fox News has decided which story is worthy of more coverage. Today, host Gregg Jarrett interviewed PBS’s Bonnie Erbe. “We have these huge stories going on like the one you’re reporting in Georgia,” Erbe noted when asked about Edwards. Jarrett, however, completely ignored Erbe’s comment on Georgia and continued to talk about Edwards, offering praise for the National Enquirer:

JARRETT: You know, his excuse for lying is absolutely stunning. He claims he denied the affair because the reporting by the National Enquirer was “99 percent wrong.” Well, so far, they’ve been about 100 percent right.

Throughout the segment, Jarrett refused to talk about anything except for Edwards’s affair:

ERBE: The American public have told pollsters, this political season they want substance. Both these candidates have expressed support for allowing Georgia into NATO. … We could have been on the verge of nuclear war. Those are the kinds of the things that the American public wants to see discussed.

JARRETT: Right. You know, but getting back to Edwards, during the Monica Lewinsky affair, Edwards absolutely ripped into Bill Clinton.

Erbe called the Edwards story “water cooler talk,” noting again that Edwards’s affair is “not the stuff the American public wants to hear about in this election cycle.” Again, Jarrett wholly ignored her, responding with more Edwards talk:

JARRETT: Well it’s amazing, he thought could get away with it, and if he had become the Democratic nominee, my goodness.

TO SEE THE ACTUAL COVERAGE ON VIDEO OR SEE THE ACTUAL ARTICLE GO TO:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/09/fox-news-edwards/

News International Threatens Media Lens with Legal and Police Action

News International Threatens Media Lens with Legal and Police Action
by Media Lens / July 10th, 2008

On June 28 and July 3, Media Lens received repeated threats of both legal and police action from Alastair Brett, legal manager of News International’s Times Newspapers.

Noam Chomsky described the threat, pithily, as “pretty sick.” (Email, June 28, 2008) David Miller, professor of sociology at the University of Strathclyde and founder member of Spinwatch, commented:

The response from the Times is an absolutely outrageous attempt to bully and censor you. It is not – unfortunately – surprising though, as the Murdoch empire is determined to attempt to snuff out those voices which try to bear witness to the truths of our age. Those that unmask naked power will be targeted by the Murdoch empire and its hench people. Maddox is the latest in a long line and is evidently a well networked member of the political elite – being a governor of the shadowy Ditchley Foundation. It is simply laughable that sending emails to complain about her distorted coverage constitutes harassment. Frankly, the drumbeat for war with Iran, to which she adds her voice, is much more like harassment, but of a whole nation. Its consequences are already more deadly serious for the people of Iran than any amount of emails from Medialens readers. (Email, July 8, 2008)

(TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE GO TO: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/07/news-international-threatens-media-lens-with-legal-and-police-action/

Murdoch’s Teflon margins (opinion fr: MEDIAMONEY)

Murdoch’s Teflon margins: Even with Dow Jones aboard, News Corp’s newspapers still look good
Posted by Peter Kirwan on 8 August 2008 at 17:25
Tags: Media, News Corp, News International, emap

LINK: http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/08/08/murdochs-teflon-margins-even-with-dow-jones-aboard-news-corps-newspapers-still-look-good/

If you work at Wapping, what should you think of News Corporation’s full-year results? Here’s the stuff investor relations would like you to shout about:

Revenue up by 9%
Operating profit up by 18%
Q4 net income per share up 27%
Yadda-yadda. So is everything really rosy in the garden? Given News Corp’s typically miserly approach to disclosure, it’s hard to say.

In particular, News Corp’s second-quarter earnings release is studiedly guarded about progress at Dow Jones, which became part of the P&L in Q1.

It tells us, for example, that Dow Jones generated $48m in operating profit before amortization and depreciation during News Corp’s Q4 (Q2 in calendar terms).

But it doesn’t tell us how much Dow Jones generated in revenues. As a result, there’s no way to assess the unit’s margin performance.

There’s probably a very good reason for this.

Last year, before the acquisition of Dow Jones, News Corp’s newspapers generated margins of 20.9%.

Any hint that these profits are being diluted by Rupert Murdoch’s high-priced acquisition would have enraged investors and analysts.

Happily, this week’s year-end results from News Corp don’t offer any real evidence of dilution.

Even with Dow Jones & Company on board for two quarters, News Corp’s newspaper division still managed to generate operating margins of 19.2% during the 12 months to 30 June.

It might not look like much, but this is really quite a feat.

The important point to remember is that pre-Murdoch Dow Jones was a dog (there’s no other word for it) in terms of profitability.

In Q307, for example, the company generated operating profits of $40.9m on revenues of $493.3m. That’s a paltry operating margin of 8.2%.

Historically, it was never much better.

Q207: 12.5%
Q107: 7.5%
Q406: 13.1%
Q306: 3.3%
The question is this: how has News Corp managed to shoehorn such a large and underperforming asset into its newspaper division without hammering its own margins?

Dow Jones was a small acquisition in revenue terms. Its $1.8bn annual revenue base was chunky enough when compared with News Corp’s pre-acquisition revenues (for 2007) of $4.5bn.

And yet. . . despite absorbing the big revenues and poor profitability of Dow Jones, News Corp’s margins have barely registered the impact. Here’s what’s been happening on a quarterly basis:

News Corp newspaper margins Q208: (with DJ) — 19.2%

News Corp newspaper margins Q108: (with DJ) — 17.9%

News Corp newspaper margins Q407 (without DJ) — 21.3%

News Corp newspaper margins Q307 (without DJ) — 18.7%

News Corp newspaper margins Q207 (without DJ) — 23.4%

News Corp newspaper margins Q107 (without DJ) — 20.3%

(NB: These margins are calculated before depreciation and amortization)

Yes, there’s a small dent visible in the margin during Q108, the quarter in which Dow Jones was included within News Corp’s numbers for the first time. But apart from that, the margin performance looks unbroken.

How have Murdoch & Co. managed this feat? The answer to the question — I suspect — falls into two parts:

1) They’ve been pressing every possible button in a bid to increase margins at Dow Jones & Company (not terribly surprising).

2) They’ve been stripping costs out of every other News Corp-owned newspaper worldwide.
Is Rupert Murdoch’s obsession with the Wall Street Journal going to weaken The Sun, the News of the World, The Times and the Sunday Times? Does the competition have an opportunity to benefit from this in the short and medium term?

My guess is that the answer to both of these questions is yes — notwithstanding recent largesse in terms of new print plants, redesigns and a “permanent” 5p cut in the price of The Sun.

Dow Jones won’t get fixed overnight. Until it does, the rest of the Murdoch empire will almost certainly need to share the burden of rebuilding it.

HELP WANTED “RUPIEWATCHER’s” PLEASE APPLY!!!

I am currently looking for people who might be interested in contributing to this site. If you are registered with WordPress and interested please apply by E-Mail to jesusofzion@yahoo.com or simply comment your interest here. Rupiewatcher’s will be given contribution access to this blog so long as they remain professional and keep within the theme and objectives of this site.

Although it does not come with pay, benefits or a retirement program contributing editorial E-staff will be able to proudly hold the title of “rupiewatcher” and may submit Blog entries or other related material under their own byline and with the ability to promote and include links to their own Blogging activities.

A Rupiewatcher Staff, Support and Sponsor page will eventually be added.

Thank You!
*rw*

Murdoch warning knocks shares

Murdoch warning knocks shares
Steffens
August 8, 2008

RUPERT MURDOCH’S warnings this week that the “recessionary” economic environment will hurt profit growth have sparked the biggest sell-off of News Corp shares in five years in New York trading and spooked shareholders in Australia.

Media analysts were forced to revise their expectations for the $US62 billion ($68 billion) media empire after Mr Murdoch said rising energy costs, the US real estate woes and the crisis in financial markets would create “economic shocks” in News Corp’s key markets. Operating income would rise just 4 to 6 per cent this year after a 17 per cent jump in 2007-08.

“This is below our previous forecast of 8 per cent growth, reflecting an advertising environment that appears to have deteriorated in recent weeks,” Jessica Reif Cohen, a media analyst at Merrill Lynch, wrote in a note to clients. She had only cut her forecast from 12 per cent growth last month.

News Corp’s Australian shares closed 56c, or 3.4 per cent, lower at $16.17 yesterday, tracking the company’s 5.5 per cent slump in US trading. The losses came after investors here had initially reacted positively to the record $US5.4 billion profit News Corp reported for the year just ended, which was boosted by non-advertising businesses such as DVDs, movies and pay TV.

Michael Morris from UBS said he was “disappointed” that News Corp would not commit to a stock buyback, with its shares down 34 per cent this year amid concern the slowing economy and further acquisitions will dent profits. UBS still estimates the company will end up spending $US1 billion of its $US5.8 billion in spare cash to buy back stock over the year.

Mr Murdoch said on Wednesday that News Corp wanted to “just hang loose for a little while yet”, given the economic uncertainties. “We’re not here to liquidate the company,” he said.

News Corp’s latest investment, the German pay TV provider Premiere, added further gloom last night, saying its losses widened in the past quarter because of piracy problems and licence fees it had to pay to broadcast the country’s top soccer league, the Bundesliga.

News Corp has built up a 25 per cent stake in the business this year.

LINK: http://business.smh.com.au/business/murdoch-warning-knocks-shares-20080807-3rqn.html#

Murdoch Plans Global Dow Index, Like It or Not

Murdoch Plans Global Dow Index, Like It or Not

By Dan Burrows
August 7, 2008

SMARTMONEY IS HALF owned by Dow Jones, which is itself owned by News Corp. (NWS1), so when Chairman Rupert Murdoch unveiled plans this week for a new global index to complement Dow Jones’s famed U.S. industrial average, our initial reaction was, “Great idea, boss!”

That was quickly followed by the realization that the investing world probably doesn’t need another benchmark — and that that won’t much matter as to its success.

A spokeswoman for Dow Jones said the company is still working on the methodology for the Global Dow and plans to announce the full details when it launches sometime in the fourth quarter. The components, as they are with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, will be chosen by the editors of The Wall Street Journal.

With new exchange-traded funds sprouting like mushrooms there are sure to be some takers. Expect to see at least three ETFs based on the Global Dow — one to track the benchmark, one that’s leveraged to double its performance and an ultra-short version to capture gains when it tanks.

And why stop there? A passively managed mutual fund would do well to grab some inflows. Why shouldn’t Fidelity or T. Rowe Price (TROW2) offer up no-load funds indexed to the Global Dow for 401(k) plans?

Never mind that the investing landscape is practically polluted with competition. Dow Jones Indexes, MSCI (MXB3), Russell, S&P, FTSE — they’ve got developed and emerging markets covered in any number of combinations and permutations. In case you were wondering, MSCI offers an index that covers the world, excluding Australia (which, curiously, is the home of our beloved chairman).

We suspect the Global Dow, like the doomestic Dow, is more about marketing than licensing. But that doesn’t mean it can’t avoid some of the Dow’s problems in its constitution to be more useful. The biggest knocks on the Dow are that it’s too narrow and that it’s weighted by share price rather than market cap. You can buy the Diamonds ETF (DIA4) to track the Dow, but why bother? With only 30 companies, there are far more diversified ways to get exposure to blue-chip stocks. Meanwhile, the price weighting gives International Business Machines (IBM5) more influence on the index than Exxon Mobil (XOM6), even though the energy giant boasts more than twice the market value of the technology company.

What little Dow Jones has said about the new index gives us some hope that it will do a better job representing the global market than the Dow industrials do the U.S. Murdoch made clear that developing markets, emerging economies and alternative energy will factor prominently in its construction.

And if they mess it up on the first go round, there’s always room for improvement. Of the original 12 members of the Dow first published in 1896, only General Electric (GE7) still remains. (See chart below.)

It’s a testament to successful marketing that when people ask, “How’d the market do today?” they usually mean the Dow, even though the broader S&P 500 index is a truer barometer of stocks. A Global Dow that can grab the public’s imagination and accurately benchmark world equities could be useful. And at the very least? It would probably encompass Australia too.

URL for this article:
http://www.smartmoney.com/irritable-investor/index.cfm?story=20080807-global-dow-index

NEWSFLASH: YOUTUBE “unlocks” Banned Video

AND THE UNICORN WINS THE SECOND ROUND!!!

My thanks to those who wrote Youtube and asked it be unlocked and taken off the “forbidden” list.. FYI it has been RELEASED (although I must question if this was done to make me appear foolish and it still concerns me that it was ever censored even for a moment).

Well, anyway.. You can now FREELY VIEW THE FORMALLY BANNED VIDEO at my YOUTUBE!

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/jesusofzion (featured Video: Why MySpace Sucks)

I wish to thank YouTube for having the courage to allow it.. but as you are likely watching me .. so shall i be watching you!

Again I thank the protesters and freedom fighters that got it unlocked and availailable for viewing once again! YOU ALL ROCK!!!! *rw*