This Is Humbling Day for Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch has had some lousy days of late, but it's a safe bet that today is the worst of all. In fact, reports that his News Corp might spin off print operations from its more lucrative entertainment side could make this "the most humble day" of his life, writes Murdoch biographer (and Newser founder) Michael Wolff in the Guardian. Murdoch has long championed his beloved newspapers, but the phone-hacking scandal on top of the industry's declining fortunes sealed their fate within the company.

"Rupert and the Murdoch family trust will still control the papers," writes Wolff. "Indeed, this odd move, to create a company of ever-weakening businesses, may have been, for Murdoch, a bad choice—but a better choice than selling and losing them." Having Murdochs run the print side is good news for the entertainment side because they won't have time to meddle. "And curiously, the papers, while they lose the upside of being part of News Corp, maintain what is arguably the downside: Rupert Murdoch." Read Wolff's full column here. (More Rupert Murdoch stories.)