The chief executive of News Corporation's News International, New Zealander Tom Mockridge, is leaving the company after only 16 months in the job.
Mr Mockridge took over from Rebekah Brookes, who lost the position because of her involvement in the British press phone hacking scandal.
However, he has decided to leave the company at the end of the year.
News Corporation's chief executive and chairman, Rupert Murdoch, says Mr Mockridge's decision to step down was entirely his own.
News International publishes newspapers including the Sun and the Times.
The BBC reports the announcement comes as News Corp plans to split into two businesses, separating its newspaper and book publishing interests from its now dominant TV and film enterprises.
The BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas said Mr Mockridge was understood to have been passed over in the restructuring.
Robert Thomson, a former editor of the Times and now managing editor of the Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones, is expected to head the publishing company, the BBC's correspondent said.
