San Francisco ? Yahoo Inc. hopes media conglomerate News Corp. can rescue it from a Microsoft Corp. takeover – or at least prove the slumping Internet pioneer is worth more money than its unsolicited suitor wants to pay.

A News Corp. partnership could provide Yahoo with the escape hatch that the Sunnyvale-based company has been seeking since Microsoft pounced with its takeover bid two weeks ago.

If nothing else, the possibility of Yahoo joining forces with one of the world’s largest media empires could prompt Microsoft to sweeten its bid, which was originally valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share.

Yahoo is believed to want at least $40 per share, or about $56 billion.

The details of the proposed News Corp. alliance were still being worked out Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person didn’t want to be identified because the talks are considered confidential.

Most analysts believe Microsoft will do whatever necessary to buy Yahoo because the world’s largest software maker views the acquisition as the best way to counteract Google Inc.’s dominance of the online search and ad markets – a battleground that is rapidly reshaping the technology and media industries.

“Buying Yahoo makes tremendous sense for Microsoft, more sense than any other company in the world,” said Ken Marlin, a New York investment banker specializing in media and technology deals.

Both The Wall Street Journal and a prominent blog, TechCrunch, reported that News Corp. is interested in folding its popular online social network, MySpace.com, and other Internet assets into Yahoo – an idea that first came up last year. News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.

News Corp. and a private equity firm reportedly would buy significant stakes in Yahoo as part of a complex deal designed to push the company’s market value toward $50 billion.

A Yahoo spokesman said the company continues to “carefully and thoroughly” evaluate alternatives that will enrich its long-term shareholders. Yahoo’s board reportedly is to meet again today or Friday to consider the company’s next move.

News Corp. spokeswoman Teri Everett declined to comment on the Yahoo talks.