Two Media Giants Report Sharply Differing Results

News Corp and Time Warner, two of the world's biggest media conglomerates, reported quarterly earnings Wednesday that were starkly different, and their chief executives struck different tones about how the economic downturn is affecting the media and entertainment world. Rupert Murdoch expects the current crisis to persist through at least 2009, calling circumstances "extremely challenging for media" and anticipating a "prolonged economic slump." Jeffrey Bewkes declared that "our businesses have proved to be resilient" in the challenging environment.