News Corp posts 11 per cent profit jump

Murdoch had previously outlined plans to erect pay walls around his vast newspaper empire by the end of News Corp.'s current fiscal year in June but he indicated that was now unlikely.
  
"We are working all very, very hard at this but I wouldn't promise that we're going to meet that date," he told reporters in a conference call after releasing News Corp.'s first-quarter results.
  
Asked what was causing the delay, he said: "Everything."

 So far, the company's only paid-for online newspaper is the Wall Street Journal. Many newspapers previously attempted to charge for their online content but were forced to retract when readership figures dropped.

So far, Australian newspapers have faired somewhat better, partly due to the ability to hang on to print advertising revenue more succesfully.

Job cuts have 'proven succesful'
 
Financial newswire Dow Jones and News International, both units of News Corp, have cut jobs in the last year. Earlier in the week, HarperCollins Publishers, also owned by News Corp, announced layoffs as part of a restructuring plan - despite seeing operating income rise from US$3m a year ago to $US20m.

"The strategic steps we took last year to ensure stability during the downturn have proven successful, with significant cost reductions offsetting much of the revenue declines in our television and newspapers and information services segments", Murdoch said.

Murdoch put the growth down to what he sees as a recovery. "The economies in which we do business are clearly in better shape than they were a year ago, and we have further positioned our operations to take advantage of the improvements we are seeing globally," he said.