News Corp. exit door may widen with Murdoch plan

Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch plans to use the exit of his longtime lieutenant, Peter Chernin, to assume more direct involvement in operations and shuffle management at News Corp., which is expected to trigger the departure of some ranking executives. A restructuring would address the key burden of having as many as 20 executives reporting directly to Murdoch due to not filling Chernin's position of president and chief operating officer. Murdoch is expected to organize the company so that only four to six operating division heads report to him. Murdoch, who turns 78 in two weeks, has not groomed a successor, beyond Chernin, because he has long wanted to install one of his six children at the top of the global empire that encompasses the Fox film studio and network, online community MySpace and a chain of newspapers including The Times of London, New York Post and Murdoch's jewel, the Wall Street Journal.