Is Murdoch planning to sell The Times?


by Sunny Hundal    
9:30 am - January 24th 2010

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A tweet by the Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff yesterday evening sent off a huge rumour mill.

He said:

Rumor making its way around London banking circles: Murdoch’s Times and Sunday Times up for sale. Stay tuned.

He later added:

Makes sense that Murdoch might sell his money-losing London papers ’cause nobody at News Corp thinks pay wall will make a difference.

And again later the same night:

Would appreciate any further intell on rumor of Murdoch sale of London Times and Sunday Times. Working on it today.

Rather predictably that tweet was re-tweeted endlessly and will now have hacks scrambling to find out more.

Wolff is no stranger to Murdoch, having written a major article on the media mogul recently for Vanity Fair. He is also the founder of Newser.com.

Whether there is more to the rumour or not will no doubt be revealed soon.

The Times is a loss-making newspaper, partially subsidised by the Sunday Times.

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About the author
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Reader comments


1. Strategist

I’d prefer to see it close.

2. A week is a long time

‘sent off a huge rumour mill’ – I don’t understand what you mean – did you mean he had started a rumour?

3. TeeHee

As I hear it the problem is Sunday Times is no longer subsidising The Times because it too is sinking in a sea of debt.

4. The Grim Reaper

The problem with both these papers is the notable fact that they are crap. And expensive crap at that. I certainly can’t afford to pay 90p per day for a daily paper and more on weekends. Get rid of all the tat they put in the paper and concentrate on solid news. Oh, and cut the price of the paper whilst you’re at it.

All well and good if Murdoch is planning to sell them. But who would want to buy them?

5. Watchman

I think the name alone is iconic enough to ensure buyers. After all, someone will bought the more indebted and much lower circulation Independent.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    Is Murdoch planning to sell The Times? http://bit.ly/4wcT2P

  2. Claire Butler

    RT @libcon Is Murdoch planning to sell The Times? http://is.gd/6VmjX

  3. George Allwell

    Liberal Conspiracy ยป Is Murdoch planning to sell The Times? http://bit.ly/4wcT2P

  4. Naadir Jeewa

    Reading: Is Murdoch planning to sell The Times?: A tweet by the Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff yesterday even… http://bit.ly/6GxiGs

  5. Two Seven Two

    Blimey. Clearly the writing is on the wall for the "quality" press unless paywall strategy ends up working after all. http://bit.ly/8LXiOb

  6. Right2Link Campaign

    We should never comment on rumours but tales of the sale of the Times are becoming irresistible – http://tinyurl.com/yboksfu

  7. Re-tweet rumours: Is the Times and Sunday Times up for sale? | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog

    [...] looks like everyone has about as much as we do on this one – from Michael Wolff’s tweets alone. On Sunday the Vanity Fair columnist [...]

  8. uberVU - social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by libcon: Is Murdoch planning to sell The Times? http://bit.ly/4wcT2P…





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