News Corp. to Name Publishing CEO

That's what friends are for. According to sources familiar with News Corp's plans, the group is expected to name Robert Thomson—a close friend and confidant of chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch—as the leader of its new publishing company by the end of next week. The Australian-born Thomson is currently managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and editor in chief of its publisher Dow Jones & Co., which News Corp. acquired in 2007. Among the key decisions that will fall on Thomson's plate, if selected, include how to save the financially troubled New York Post and whether or not to acquire other U.S. newspapers.