James Murdoch's resignation from News International inextricably links Mr. Carey to the British newspapers, properties he technically oversaw before but had little interest in, according to people with knowledge of the internal dynamics at the company.
But Robert C. Hardie, the company chairman and husband of Hoiles' sister, Mary Jane, maintained that the shareholders own stock, not assets, and have no right to ownership of specific Freedom Newspapers properties.
Cablevision, with no newspaper properties, would not have the same opportunities for improving Newsday's finances.
In 1978, he was forced to sell The Star after the Federal Communications Commission barred common ownership of broadcast and newspaper properties in the same market.
Media General said on Thursday that it had sold nearly all of its 63 newspaper properties, excluding The Tampa Tribune, to Berkshire for $142 million in cash.
Media General said on Thursday that it had sold nearly all of its newspaper properties, excluding The Tampa Tribune, to Berkshire for $142 million in cash.
Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst, highlighted the "historically low prices" for newspaper properties and the potential for the buyers to make a profit.
LONDON — After months of deeply uncomfortable scrutiny, James Murdoch resigned on Wednesday as head of his father's scandal-ridden newspaper properties in Britain.
On Tuesday, the F.C.C., in a close vote, decided to relax its rule against one company owning both broadcast and newspaper properties in a single market.
Alan D. Mutter, a media consultant, said advertising sales in the newspaper industry had dropped to $27 billion in 2009, from $49 billion in 2005, so just getting rid of debt won't be enough no matter who owns newspaper properties.
Gannett, which also owns USA Today, 80 other newspapers and 23 television stations, is in the middle of an overhaul of its newspaper properties, redesigning print pages, introducing pay walls for online access and turning print reporters into multimedia journalists.
