In the News

Does Fox want `60 Minutes'?

A report that Fox Inc. Chairman Rupert Murdoch asked the executive producer of "60 Minutes" about buying the top-rated CBS news show has it backward, Murdoch said Friday. It was the CBS executive who suggested it, Murdoch said, adding he thought the comment was a joke. Murdoch's Fox TV group has conducted spectacular raids of CBS, winning rights to National Football League telecasts and taking over eight CBS affiliate stations. But the sale of a network TV news magazine would be unprecedented. New York Newsday reported Friday that Don Hewitt, who founded "60 Minutes" and has led it through three decades, said Murdoch had asked him if CBS would entertain the thought of selling the show.

Pickup trucks without engines

Ford Motor Co. will begin building Ranger pickup truck "gliders" vehicles without engines, transmissions or fuel systems to sell to companies that convert them to run on electricity. The automaker announced the program at an environmental products trade show in Los Angeles and said it would begin working with conversion companies that want to qualify to buy the vehicles. On display at the show was a prototype Ranger glider that had been converted to electric power by TDM World Conversions Inc. of Troy, Mich.

Mutual fund to focus on Africa

The Calvert Group, a purveyor of socially responsible investments, is set to launch the first open-end mutual fund to invest primarily in Africa. The Calvert New Africa Fund will be managed by New Africa Advisers, a division of the U.S.'s largest African-American-owned money management firm, Sloan Financial Group. It will be open to investors beginning Wednesday.

FTC gets a new leader

The Senate confirmed the nomination of law school professor Robert Pitofsky to head the Federal Trade Commission. Pitofsky takes over the commission leadership from Republican Janet D. Steiger, who remains a member of the agency that enforces business competition and consumer protection laws. Pitofsky served as an FTC commissioner in the Carter administration.

Sports magazines planned

Hearst Magazines Enterprises, a subsidiary of Hearst Magazines, and ESPN Enterprises Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN Inc., announced plans to publish four special-interest sports magazines in 1995. The magazines will cover professional football, on newsstands in August; professional basketball, in October; NCAA basketball, in November; and a year- end roundup of 1995 sporting events, in December.

NYSE seat sells for $810,000

A seat on the New York Stock Exchange was sold Friday for $810,000, up $25,000 from the previous sale on March 31.

DuPont to build Korea plant

DuPont Co. said it would build a $55 million factory in South Korea to manufacture the principal chemical used to make spandex fiber and polyurethane.

Unemployment rises to 5.5%

Unemployment climbed to 5.5% in March from 5.4% in February as factory jobs fell for the first time since 1993, the Labor Department reported. The department said that 203,000 jobs were created in March, but that unemployment rose because more people entered the labor market than found jobs. "We have hit a glide pattern that is bringing steady job growth without inflation at a relatively low level of unemployment," said Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "We haven't had this good a combination of job growth and non- inflation for several decades."

Copyright 1995
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