Scandal Clouds News Corp.'s Move Into Education

Joel Klein, executive vice president of News Corp., left; Rupert Murdoch’s wife, Wendi Deng; and Rupert Murdoch leave a Parliament office building after Murdoch gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal on July 19.

—Sean Dempsey/PA Wire/AP

By Ian Quillen

When News Corp. announced last fall its entry into the education technology market, some observers said the media conglomerate led by Rupert Murdoch was a bad fit for education.

Between the ownership of conservative-leaning outlets like Fox News and a reputation for identifying opportunities to generate lots of revenue very quickly, News Corp. had a business model, they suggested, that wouldn’t mesh well with a world where public-employee unions hold influence and business development typically is gradual.

Now, just as News Corp. had appeared set to expand its education holdings beyond its recently acquired subsidiary Wireless Generation , those concerns are joined by a deluge of legal and ethical issues surrounding the phone-hacking scandal in the...