Rupert Murdoch has proposed a stock swap deal whereby News Corp. would trade MySpace for a 25 percent stake in Yahoo!, according to a Washington Post report.

Although News Corp. officials insist talks between the two companies have been underway for some time, the recent departure of Yahoo CEO Terry Semel seems to have put a new sense of urgency on the rumored deal. However, it is not known if talks will continue now that founder Jerry Yang has stepped in to take over the company.

If the deal were to go through, Murdoch would cede control of MySpace but gain access to Yahoo's 100-million unique monthly visitors.

In the meantime, Murdoch will continue his bid for the Dow Jones company. The board of directors for Dow Jones is scheduled to meet today to discuss the $5 billion proposal.