• Reuters, Friday, May 29, 2009 9:31 AM

News Corp CEO and newspaper empire builder Rupert Murdoch showed up on the Fox Business Network (which he owns) to say his papers will not take bailout money to help them stay afloat. His U.S. papers include The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the Ottaway chain of local dailies.

"We would never take money from the government," said Murdoch. To do so would mean the papers would "give up our freedoms to criticize and to play our full role in the community. Nothing that the News owns will ever take money from the government and I don't believe even The New York Times would. I don't think the government would even do it."

Asked if there is still private financing available to media companies, he said yes, despite the downturn. "The people who put private money into these highly leveraged situations have probably lost them and the banks that allowed them to leverage up, may ha

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