News Corp. Spinoff Forces Publishing Arm to Show It Can Grow

Rupert Murdoch bowed to investor pressure to split his six-decade-old publishing business from the rest of News Corp.’s media empire. Now it’s time for the newspaper unit to prove it can make it on its own.

The publishing unit, owner of the Wall Street Journal, New York Post and London’s Sunday Times, officially became independent today, losing the backing of News Corp.’s entertainment business as it pursues growth in a declining industry. The newspaper company, which kept the News Corp. name, is valued at about $8.9 billion -- a seventh the level of entertainment business, which is now called 21st Century Fox.