As News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch finally achieved ownership of Dow Jones & Co. and its flagship paper the Wall Street Journal Thursday, he later visited the Dow Jones head office and, standing atop four boxes of copying paper, reassured journalists that the “tremendous values” at Dow Jones will be preserved under new ownership.

“If anything, you will find us trying to set a higher bar,” he said, according to a report by The Australian.

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Kerry Group, controlled by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok, will make a mandatory offer for South China Morning Post, the largest English-language paper in Hong Kong.

The group, which has businesses in property, logistics and hotels, is obliged to make the offer after Kerry Media added its stake in Hong Kong-listed SCMP Group to 40.4 percent last month.

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Independent News & Media Chief Executive Anthony O'Reilly has raised his personal stake in the newspaper publisher to 26.12 percent, while Irish telecoms billionaire Denis O'Brien has built up his stake to 14.5 percent.

In a statement Thursday O'Reilly announced he bought another 1 million shares (0.12 percent stake) at €2.156 per share. Before Monday, O'Brien owned just over 12 percent of the company, but in the past few days, he has spent €40 million on shares.

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Global newspaper ad expenditures will achieve US $129.2 million this year, and keep on growing with a single digit ACGR in the next two year, and will reach nearly US $140 million in 2009, according to the 2007 World Press Trend released by World Association of Newspapers.

Since 1994, newspaper ad spending has grown slowly each year, except for in 2001 and 2002, and increased over 55 percent in total.

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Reporting slight advertising revenues Thursday, Trinity Mirror warned the ad market will continue to be volatile through to 2008.

Core revenues for the five months through the end of November increased by 2.1 percent from last year, according to the group, which owns the Daily Mirror and about 200 regional titles. The first half of 2007, however, saw a 1.5 percent decline.

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The Daily Telegraph agreed Friday to pay “substantial” damages to movie star Nicole Kidman, for stating she preferred another fragrance to Chanel no. 5, the perfume she is paid to promote.

The Telegraph's Spy column last month stated Kidman had said her favourite perfume was Jo Malone's White Jasmine and Mint, and that she had been “dabbing it on whenever she had a moment” while promoting her new film, The Golden Compass, in London, MediaGuardian reported Friday.

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