CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- News Corp. NWSA, +0.21% NWS, +0.54% Chairman Rupert Murdoch, commenting on the most severe worldwide economic downturn in decades, said Wednesday that "it is increasingly clear that the worst is over." Speaking to analysts on a conference call, Murdoch said: "There are emerging signs in some of our businesses that the days of precipitous declines are done and that revenues are beginning to look healthier."