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'News Corporation' (abbreviated to 'News Corp') (, , , ) is one of the world's largest Media conglomerates. Its chief executive officer is Rupert Murdoch.
News Corporation is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange and as a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. Formerly incorporated in Adelaide, Australia, the company was re-incorporated in the United States state of Delaware after a majority of shareholders approved the move on November 12 2004.
News Corporation's headquarters is at 1211 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Ave.), in New York City, in the newer 1960s-1970s corridor of the Rockefeller Center complex.
Revenue for the year ended June 30 2005 was US$23.859 billion. This does not include News Corporation's share of the revenue of businesses in which it owns a minority stake, which include two of its most important assets, DirecTV and BSkyB. Almost 70% of the company's sales come from its US businesses.

Contents

History

Moving into the United States

Controversies

Shareholders

Corporate governance

Executives

Holdings

Books

Newspapers

Magazines

Music / Radio

Sport

Studios

TV

Broadcast

Satellite television

Cable

Internet

Other assets

See also

References

External links

History

News Corporation was created in 1980 by Rupert Murdoch as a holding company for News Limited. News Limited was created by Murdoch from the assets he inherited in 1952 following the death of his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, and subsequent expansion. The main asset left to him was ownership of the ''Adelaide News''.
In 1986 and 1987, News Corp (through subsidiary News International) moved to adjust the production process of its British newspapers, over which the printing unions had long maintained a highly restrictive grip.^[1] A number of senior Australian media moguls were brought into Murdoch's powerhouse, including John Dux, who was managing director of the South China Post. This led to a confrontation with the printing unions NGA and SOGAT. The move of News International's London operation to Wapping in the East End resulted in nightly battles outside the new plant. Delivery vans and depots were frequently and violently attacked.^[2] Ultimately the unions capitulated.

Moving into the United States

News Corp made its first acquisition in the United States in 1973, when it purchased the ''San Antonio Express-News''. Soon afterwards it founded the ''National Star'', a supermarket tabloid, and in 1976 it purchased the ''New York Post''. In 1981 News Corp bought half the movie studio 20th Century Fox, buying the other half in 1984. In 1985 News Corp announced it was buying the Metromedia group of stations, setting the stage for the launch of a fourth U.S. broadcast network. On September 4 1985, Murdoch became a naturalized citizen to satisfy the legal requirement that only United States citizens could own American television stations. In 1986, the Metromedia deal closed, and the Fox Broadcasting Company was launched.
This network, known on-screen as "Fox", can now be picked up in over 96% of U.S. households. In 1987 News Corp bought The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. in Australia, the company that Rupert Murdoch's father had once managed. By 1991, News Corp had amassed huge debts, which forced it to sell many of the American magazine interests it had acquired in the mid-1980s. Much of this debt came from its stake in the Sky Television satellite network in the UK, which incurred massive losses in its early years of operation, which (like many of its business interests) was heavily subsidized with profits from its other holdings until it was able to force rival satellite operator British Satellite Broadcasting to accept a merger on its terms in 1990. (The merged company, BSkyB has dominated the British pay-TV market since.)
In 1995, the Fox network became the object of scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when it was alleged that its Australian base made Murdoch's ownership of Fox illegal. The FCC, however, ruled in Murdoch's favor, stating that his ownership of Fox was in the public's best interests. It was also noted that the stations themselves were owned by a separate company whose chief shareholder was U.S. citizen Murdoch, although nearly all of the stations' equity was controlled by News Corp. In the same year News Corp announced a deal with MCI Communications to develop a major news website as well as funding a conservative news magazine, ''The Weekly Standard''. In the same year, News Corp launched the Foxtel pay television network in Australia in a partnership with Telstra and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited.
In 1996, Fox established the Fox News Channel, a 24-hour cable news station.
In 1999, News Corp significantly expanded its music holdings in Australia by acquiring the controlling share in a leading Australian based label, Michael Gudinski's Mushroom Records; merging it with already held Festival Records to create Festival Mushroom Records (FMR). Both Festival and FMR were managed by Rupert Murdoch's son James Murdoch for several years.
In late 2003, News Corp acquired a 34% stake in Hughes DirecTV, from General Motors for Electronics, operator of the largest American satellite TV system, US$6 billion.
In 2007 News Corporation reached an agreement to purchase Dow Jones, publishers of the Wall Street Journal for an estimated $5.6 billion.

Controversies

Over its many years and spheres of operation, News Corporation has attracted a number of allegations:

★ 'The Chris Patten Book' – Chris Patten was a British politician who became the governor of Hong Kong just prior to its handover to China. A biography of Chris Patten was due to be published by Collins (part of News Corporation) but it was dropped. It was alleged that the reasoning behind the drop was due to the fact that it was critical of China's human rights. News Corporation was, at the time, trying to complete a deal regarding Star TV.^[3]

★ 'Media Monopoly' - News Corporation is often accused of using the combined power of its consolidated media assets to push out rivals and push towards a media monopoly. An example of an accusation would be News Corporation's attempt to buy the football club Manchester United. In 1998 News Corp bid GB£623.4 million for the UK-based football club. Its fans were outraged and raised the question of an encroaching monopoly, as News Corporation owned the rights to broadcast all Premier League matches, of which Manchester United was one. It was alleged that by controlling Manchester United, News Corporation could influence the decisions about the selling of the rights to broadcast all Premier League matches.^[4]

★ 'Political Bias' - Rupert Murdoch and Fox News have often been accused by media observers and the public of flagrant conservative bias. Attention is most often drawn to Fox News' coverage of the buildup to the Iraq invasion, which portrayed Saddam Hussein's possession of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' as a certainty, and his intention to use them as an inevitability. Coverage of the ensuing invasion barely mentioned opposition to the war either in America or Iraq. ^[5] Further, Fox News and Rupert Murdoch periodically dispute these allegations of conservative bias. Many examples detailing this can be found in the left-wing documentary "OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" released in 2004.

Shareholders

★ In August 2005 the Murdoch family owned only about 29% of the company. However, nearly all of these shares were voting shares, and Rupert Murdoch retained effective control of the company. Nonetheless, John Malone of Liberty Media had built up a large stake, with about half of the shares being voting shares. Therefore, in November 2006, News Corporation announced its intention to transfer its 38.5 per cent managing interest in DirecTV Group to John Malone's Liberty Media; in return it bought back Liberty's 16.3% shares in News Corp., giving Murdoch tighter control of the latter firm.[1]

★ Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal who is an investing tycoon and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company said in an interview with Charlie Rose that he had about a 6-7% stake in News Corp.^[6][7]

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of News Corporation are: Rupert Murdoch (chairman), David DeVoe, Peter Chernin, Arthur Siskind, Chase Carey, Viet Dinh, Rod Eddington, Andrew Knight, Lachlan Murdoch, Peter Barnes, Rod Paige, Thomas Perkins, Kenneth Cowley, Jose Maria Aznar, and John L. Thornton.

Executives

Current executives of News Corporation are: Rupert Murdoch (chairman), Peter Chernin, David DeVoe, Lawrence Jacobs, Anthea Disney, Gary Ginsberg, Leon Hertz, Ian Moore, John Nallen, Martin Pompadur, Michael Regan, and Genie Gavenchak.

Holdings

Books

★ HarperCollins book publishing company

★ Zondervan Christian book publisher

★
★ Youth Specialties - organisation helping youth workers worldwide through training seminars and conventions, resources and the internet.

★
★ Inspirio - religious gift production.

Newspapers

★ Australia

★
★ ''The Australian'' (Nationwide)

★
★ ''The Weekend Australian'' (Nationwide)

★
★ Community Media Group (16 QLD & NSW suburban/regional titles)

★
★ ''The Courier-Mail'' (Queensland)

★
★ ''The Sunday Mail'' (Queensland)

★
★ ''The Cairns Post'' (Cairns, Queensland)

★
★ ''The Gold Coast Bulletin'' (Gold Coast, Queensland)

★
★ ''The Townsville Bulletin'' (Townsville, Queensland)

★
★ ''The Daily Telegraph'' (New South Wales)

★
★ ''The Sunday Telegraph'' (New South Wales)

★
★ ''Herald Sun'' (Victoria)

★
★ ''Sunday Herald Sun'' (Victoria)

★
★ ''The Weekly Times'' (Victoria)

★
★ Leader Newspapers (30 suburban Melbourne, VIC titles)

★
★ ''MX'' (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane CBD)

★
★ ''The Geelong Advertiser'' (Geelong, Victoria)

★
★ ''The Advertiser'' (South Australia)

★
★ ''The Sunday Mail'' (South Australia)

★
★ ''Messenger Newspapers'' (11 suburban Adelaide, SA titles)

★
★ ''The Sunday Times'' (Western Australia)

★
★ ''The Mercury'' (Tasmania)

★
★ Quest Newspapers (19 suburban Brisbane, QLD titles)

★
★ ''The Sunday Tasmanian'' (Tasmania)

★
★ ''Northern Territory News'' (Northern Territory)

★
★ ''The Sunday Territorian'' (Northern Territory)

★
★ ''The Tablelands Advertiser'' (Atherton Tablelands and the Far North, Queensland)

★
★ ''The Tablelander'' (Atherton Tablelands and the Far North, Queensland)

★ Fiji

★
★ ''Fiji Times'' (National)

★
★ Nai Lalakai

★
★ Shanti Dut

★ Papua New Guinea

★
★ ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' (National)(62.5%)

★ UK and Ireland newspapers, published by subsidiaries of News International Ltd.

★
★ News Group Newspapers Ltd.

★
★
★ the tabloid ''The Sun'' (published in Ireland as ''The Irish Sun'')

★
★
★ the tabloid ''News of the World''

★
★ Times Newspapers Ltd.

★
★
★ the broadsheet ''The Sunday Times''

★
★
★ the 'ex-broadsheet' (Now in compact form) ''The Times''

★
★
★ ''The Times Literary Supplement''

★
★ NI Free Newspapers Ltd.

★
★
★ the free newspaper ''thelondonpaper''

★ US newspapers and magazines

★
★ The ''New York Post''

★
★ The Timesledger Newspapers in Queens, New York: Bayside Times, Whitestone Times, Flushing Times, Fresh Meadows Times, Little Neck Ledger, Jackson Heights Times, Richmond Hill Times, Jamaica Times, Laurelton Times, Queens Village Times, Astoria Times, Forest Hills Ledger, Ridgewood Ledger, Howard Beach Times

★
★ The Courier-Life Newspapers in Brooklyn

★
★ Caribbean Life

★
★ The Times-Herald Record

Magazines

★ ''SmartSource''

★ ''TV Guide'', via partial ownership of Gemstar-TV Guide

★ ''The Weekly Standard'' (Washington, D.C.)

★ Australia

★
★ Alpha Magazine

★
★ Australian Country Style

★
★ Australian Golf Digest

★
★ Australian Good Taste

★
★ Big League

★
★ BCME

★
★ Delicious

★
★ Donna Hay

★
★ Fast Fours

★
★ GQ

★
★ Gardening Australia

★
★ InsideOut (Aust)

★
★ Lifestyle Pools

★
★ Live to Ride

★
★ Notebook:

★
★ Overlander 4WD

★
★ Modern Boating

★
★ Modern Fishing

★
★ Parents

★
★ Pure Health

★
★ Super Food Ideas

★
★ Truck Australia

★
★ Truckin' Life

★
★ twowheels

★
★ twowheels scooter

★
★ Vogue (Australia)

★
★ Vogue Entertaining & Travel

★
★ Vogue Living

★ ''Love it!'' (UK based Magazine)

★ ''InsideOut'' (UK Based Magazine)

★ The Travel Magazine (UK Based Magazine)

Music / Radio

★ MySpace Records

★ India

★
★ Radio City (India radio station)(20%)held through STAR TV- commercial FM network with stations in 20 cities.

★ Russia

★
★ Nashe (50%)

★
★ Best FM (50%)

Sport

★ 50% of the National Rugby League (Australia and New Zealand)

★ Majority ownership of the Brisbane Broncos (68.9%) and, full ownership of Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys rugby league teams.

★ Colorado Rockies (15%)

Studios

★ Fox Filmed Entertainment: 20th Century Fox's parent company

★ 20th Century Fox: a film production company

★ 20th Century Fox Television - primetime television programming.

★ Fox Searchlight Pictures - specialized films.

★ Fox 2000 Pictures - general audience feature films.

★ Fox Television Studios(productions)- market specific programming eg. COPS.

★ Fox Television Studios International

★
★ Fox World Productions

★
★ Fox World Australia

★
★ Fox TV Studios France

★
★ Fox TV Studios India

★
★ Natural History New Zealand - natural world documentaries, non-fiction programming.

★ Fox Atomic - produces theatrical films, comics, and digital content targeting the 17-24 year olds. Aiming to produce/acquire eight films per year over a range of genres, specifically action and horror

★ Fox Faith - Promotion and distribution of Christian and related "family friendly" movies on DVD and some theatrical release.

★ Fox Studios Australia, Sydney, New South Wales

★ Blue Sky Studios - production of CGI films eg. Ice Age.

★ Fox Entertainment Group

★ New Regency Productions (20%) - general audience feature films.

★ Regency Television (50%) - mainstream television shows.

★ Regency Enterprises (20%) - parent company of New Regency Productions (50%), and Regency Television (50%).

TV

Broadcast

★ Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), a US broadcast television network

★ My Network TV, a US broadcast television network

★ Fox Television Stations Group, a group of owned and operated FOX television stations

★ ITV plc (17.5%), a British broadcast television network and the UK's largest advertising revenue based broadcaster via BSkyB

★ News Corp Europe

★
★ bTV, a broadcast television network in Bulgaria

★
★ b1TV, a broadcast television network in Romania, in partnership with S.C. NEWS ROMANIA S.A.

★
★ Fox Televizija, a broadcast television network in Serbia (49%)

★
★ Fox Turkey, a Turkish terrestrial channel (56,5%) (formerly TGRT)

★
★ Imedi Media Holding, a Georgian radio and TV broadcaster part-owned by News Corporation (30%)

★
★
★ Imedi Television

★
★
★ Radio Imedi

★
★ TV Puls (35%), a terrestrial channel in Poland.

★
★ Israel 10 (9%), a terrestrial channel in Israel.

★
★ LNT (100%), a terrestrial channel in Latvia

★
★ TV5 (70%), a terrestrial channel in Latvia

★ ANTV (20%), a private television station in Indonesia, under the administration and label of STAR TV

★ Prime Television New Zealand - commercial TV station, interest held through stake in SKY Network Television

Satellite television

★ BSkyB, United Kingdom (39.1% holding).

★ Foxtel(25%), Australia, a joint venture with Telstra and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited

★ SKY Network Television , New Zealand (44%)

★ Sky Italia, Italian satellite TV service

★ STAR TV, an Asian satellite TV service

★ Phoenix Satellite TV (17.6%), satellite TV network with landing rights in Hong Kong, and select provinces on Mainland China

★ Tata Sky(20%), an Indian DTH TV service (in partnership with Tata Group)

Cable

''CHANNELS''

★ Fox Business Network, an upcoming business-news channel to be launched on October 152007.

★ Fox Classics, a channel airing solely classic movies

★ Fox Movie Channel, an all-movie channel that airs commercial-free movies from 20th Century Fox film library

★ Fox News Channel, a 24-hour news channel

★ Fox Reality, a 'Reality TV'-themed channel

★ Fox Sports Net, a chain of US regional cable television networks broadcasting local sporting events linked together by national sports news programming. Local channels include "Fox Sports Southwest", "Fox Sports Bay Area", etc. (some affiliates are owned by Cablevision).

★ Fox College Sports, a college sports network consisting of three regionally-aligned channels

★ SportSouth, a regional sports network in the United States, with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

★ Fox Sports International

★
★ Fox Soccer Channel, a United States digital cable network specializing mainly in soccer.

★
★ Fox Sports Middle East - English language sports network airing in Middle East countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Labanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE & Yemen.

★
★ Fox Pan American Sports (37.9%) - joint venture with Hicks, Muse, and Tate & Furst.

★
★
★ Fox Sports en Español (50%), a Spanish-language North American cable sports network; its sports lineup is tailored to appeal to a Latin American audience.

★
★
★ Fox Sports en Latinoamérica, a Mexico-based Latin American satellite and cable sports network.

★ FX Networks, a cable network broadcasting reruns of programming previously shown on other channels, but recently creating its own programming, including the Emmy Award-winning program ''The Shield''.

★ SPEED Channel

★ FUEL TV

★ Big Ten Network, college football & basketball cable channel being launched Aug 2007 (49%)

★ National Geographic Channel (joint venture with National Geographic Magazine) 67%

★ National Geographic Channel International 75%

★ Fox International Channels, domestic cable channels offering different formats of Fox programming including FX, Fox Life, and Fox Crime amongst others. Countries of operation include Brazil, Bulgaria,Croatia, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Singapore, Serbia, Spain & Turkey.

★
★ Fox Toma 1 - Spanish language television production.

★
★ .FOX (pronounced "punto Fox") - largest Spanish & Portugese language online ad company, plus now handles TV ad sales.

★ ''Latin America''

★
★ Fox Latin American Channels - channels available in over 17 countries in Latin America

★
★
★ Baby TV

★
★
★ Canal FOX

★
★
★ Canal FX

★
★
★ Canal Fox Life

★
★
★ Canal Fox Reality

★
★
★ Canal Fox Sports

★
★
★ Canal Speed

★
★
★ Canal National Geographic Channel

★
★
★ Fox One-Stop Media - advertising sales for company owned and third party channels in Latin America

★
★ LAPTV (22.5%)(Latin American Pay Television) operates 5 cable movie channels throughout South America excluding Brazil.

★
★
★ Movie City

★
★
★ Cine Canal

★
★
★ Cine Canal 2

★
★
★ Cine Canal Classics

★
★
★ The Film Zone

★
★ Telecine (12.5%) operates 5 cable movie channels in Brazil.

★
★
★ Telecine Premium

★
★
★ Telecine Action

★
★
★ Telecine Light

★
★
★ Telecine Pipoca

★
★
★ Telecine Cult

★ ''Australia''

★
★ Premier Media Group (50%)

★
★
★ Fox Sports One

★
★
★ Fox Sports Two

★
★
★ Fox Sports Three

★
★
★ FUEL TV

★
★
★ How To Channel

★
★ Premium Movie Partnership (20%) - movie channels, a joint venture between 20th Century Fox, Sony, Universal, Paramount and Liberty Media

★
★
★ Showtime 1 & 2

★
★
★ Showtime Greats
''PLATFORMS''

★ India

★
★ Hathway Cable & Datacom (22.2%), India's 2nd largest cable network through 7 cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai & Pune

★ Taiwan

★
★ Total TV (20%), Pay TV platform with JV partner KOO's Group majority owner (80%). News Corp also has a 20% interest in the KOO's Group directly

Internet

★ Fox Interactive Media

★
★ MySpace - Social networking website, general interest website acquired through purchase from Intermix Media

★
★ MySpace TV, a video site which will host amateur videos, contents from net and studios that competes with Google YouTube ^[8]

★
★ Photobucket - Photo sharing website.

★
★ Hulu (45%) - online video download site in partnership with NBC Universal.

★
★ Flektor - provides Web-based tools for photo and video editing and mashups.

★
★ Grab.com - Entertainment/Games. (Acquired through purchase of Intermix Media)

★
★ IGN Entertainment - Internet entertainment portal (Includes the sites IGN, GameSpy, Rotten Tomatoes, TeamXbox, and Askmen.com)

★
★ Strategic Data Corp - interactive advertising company which develops technology to deliver targeted internet advertising.

★
★ Scout.com

★
★ WhatIfSports.com - sports simulation and prediction website. Also provides fantasy-style sports games to play.

★ Movielink (20%) - Online movie downloads joint Venture between - Fox, Viacom, Sony, MGM & Disney

★ Indya.com - 'India's no. 1 Entertainment Portal'

★ Jumptheshark.com owned through stake in GemstarTVGuide

★ ROO Group Inc (5% increasing to 10% with performance targets)

★ News Digital Media

★
★ News.com.au - Australian-oriented news website

★
★ CareerOne.com.au

★
★ CarsGuide.com.au

★
★ in2mobi.com.au

★
★ TrueLocal.com.au

★
★ Moshtix.com.au

★
★ Netus (75%) - investment co. in online properties.

★
★
★ Travel.com.au (19.59%)

★ Realestate.com.au (69%)

★
★ Casa.it (59.4%), Sky Italia also holds a 30.6% share

★
★ TadpoleNet Media (10%) Hosts of ArmySailor.com

★
★ atHome group, operator of leading realestate websites in Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Germany.

★
★
★ Altowin (51%),provider of office management tools for realestate agents in Belgium.

★
★ Propertyfinder.com (50%), News Corp holds the remaining 50% directly

★
★ PropertyLook, property websites in Australia and New Zealand.

★
★ HomeSite.com.au, home renovation and improvement website.

★ New Zealand

★
★ DVD Unlimited - leading online DVD subscription service (ownership through stake in Sky Network Television).

Other assets

★ (NDS) - Conditional access technology and personal digital video recorders (PVRs) (74%)

★
★ Jungo

★
★ Timothy Coville

★
★ ITE, publisher of Playstation and Mobile games, and interactive television

★
★ Orbis Technology, supplier of online gambling software

★ Broadsystem Ltd (UK) - Telephony provider for media companies, bought in 1991

★ Broadsystem Australia (Australia)

★ Broadsystem Ventures (UK) - provider of cheap-rate telephone calls, particularly for customers of Sky Television. Bought outright in 1999.

★ Jamba! - Mobile Entertainment/Mobile Handsets Personalization/Games. 51% majority stake acquired through deal with VeriSign in September 2006.

★ News Outdoor Group - Largest outdoor advertising company in Eastern Europe with over 70,000 ads including billboards and bus shelters, operating in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Israel, Poland, Romania, Russia (96 cities), Turkey & Ukraine.

★
★ Maximedia Israel (67%)

★
★ Mosgorreklama (50%) - Russia sign and marketing material manufacturer

★
★ Kamera Acikhava Reklamclik (?) - leading outdoor advertising company in Turkey

★ Australian Associated Press (25%)

★ Stats Inc (50%) - worlds leading provider of sporting information and statistical analysis (a JV with Associated Press)

★ Fox Sports Grill (50%) - Upscale sports bar and restaurant with 8 locations - Arizona, California, Seattle, New York, Dallas, Texas, Houston, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.

★ Fox Sports Skybox (70%) - Sports fan's Bar & Grill at Staples Center and 6 airport restaurants.

★ News America Marketing (US) - (100%) - nation’s leading marketing services company, products include a portfolio of in-store, home-delivered and online media under the SmartSource brand.

See also

★ List of conglomerates

★ List of assets owned by News Corporation

References

1. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960821-2,00.html
2. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960821-3,00.html
3. Rupert Murdoch faces authors' revolt (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/analysis/61122.stm
4. Media ownership in the UK. Another example is buying rival Virgin Media, so as to block its expansion. http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/media/mediaown.html
5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/07/16/hillary-clinton-shuns-fox_n_56495.html
6. "Murdoch's son sees pay doubled ahead of exit"
7. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5248387077652418022&q=alwaleed&hl=en
8. MySpace TV new competitor of Google-YouTube

External links

★ News Corporation official site

★ News Corporation Property Map Visual Map of News Corporation's Property Holdings following the Dow Jones Purchase

★ Ketupa - News Corporation profile with history and holdings

★ News Corp. Corporate Timeline - Columbia Journalism Review This Site has not been updated since 2004.

★ Broadsystem - official site for News International subsidiary