Two years ago, there were signs of a thaw, with Murdoch, who owns The New York Post, not only endorsing Clinton’s bid for a second Senate term in his paper, but also organising a fundraiser for her.

Recently, though, the relationship appears to have taken a turn for the worse. Clinton has been skewered in The Post throughout her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and recently taken to task over her claim that she had encountered sniper fire in a visit to Bosnia as first lady (though she later said she had “misspoken”). The newspaper even ran an article, datelined Sarajevo, to debunk what one of its headlines labeled a “low blow lie”.

Now another sign has emerged offering possible clues to Clinton’s Murdoch status: Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth is holding a fundraiser at her London home this month for Senator Barack Obama.

Elisabeth Murdoch, 39, who is Rupert Murdoch’s second daughter, is one of several “event chairs” for the April 28 event at her home in Notting Hill. Others include the actress Gwyneth Paltrow; Cristina Stenbeck, a Swedish heiress; and a celebrity chef in London, Ruthie Rogers. David Blood, who runs an investment fund with former Vice President Al Gore that specializes in environmentally friendly companies, is listed as one of 20 “event hosts”.

A $2,300 contribution, the maximum allowable for a primary campaign, offers access to the VIP reception; the main event requires a $1,000 donation.

Murdoch is the powerful chairman of the News Corp, which includes in its vast holdings the Fox News channel, The Post and, most recently, The Wall Street Journal. Some of his media outlets have been criticised for conservative bias, having made a sport over the years of tearing into former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, among other Democratic leaders.

But an analysis of campaign contributions from employees of the News Corp and its affiliates, including 20th Century Fox, Fox Sports and the like, reveals they skew heavily Democratic and toward Clinton, who collected more than $100,000 in donations, compared with about $80,000 for Obama.

The records show that the employees gave less than $20,000 to Republicans seeking their party’s presidential nomination.

Last year, even Murdoch contributed $2,300 to Clinton’s presidential campaign. This followed The Post’s endorsement of her re-election in 2006, as well as Murdoch’s highly publicised fundraiser for her.

Several Murdoch advisers are close to the Clintons. Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of the News Corp, is a major fundraiser for Clinton.