TechCrunch UK is reporting Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. may buy professional social networking site LinkedIn.

Buying LinkedIn would give News Corp. two social networks with completely different user bases.

MySpace, which it already owns, has a significant teenage and young adult demographic. These users communicate with friends on the MySpace interface. LinkedIn consists of professional adults who use the site as an online resume and contact list.

Social networks have to some extent eaten into classified advertising revenue at newspapers' expense, since friends can pass sales, apartment listings and job opportunities across their networks instead of placing ads.

Buying LinkedIn, which offers a free level of service but charges for premium features, gives News Corp. a revenue stream from social networking, something it's struggled to find with MySpace.

While nothing has been confirmed one way or the other, the report comes to TechCrunch UK from what it describes as a trusted source.