The former speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, is joining the board of Fox Corporation - the parent company of Fox News.

Ryan and three other board of directors were appointed on Tuesday.

The appointment of new directors was a necessary step as part of a deal which saw the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.

The Walt Disney Company acquired certain 21st Century Fox assets as of Wednesday March 20th.

The acquisition included 21st Century Fox's film production businesses, FX Networks, National Geographic Partners and Fox's interests in Hulu, Tata, Sky and the Endemol Shine Group.

It comes as Fox Corporation announced on Tuesday that it has become a standalone company.

Fox Corporation produces and distributes news, sports and entertainment content through brands such as Fox News, Fox Sports and various television stations.

Its film production arm, 21st Century Fox, is now a separate company.

Paul Ryan escorts US President Donald Trump to a House Republican caucus meeting in June 2018 | Image: CQ-Roll Call/SIPA USA/PA Images

This was done through the distribution of all of the outstanding shares of the company's common stock to 21st Century Fox stockholders on a pro-rata basis.

Twenty-First Century Fox distributed a total of 620,501,921 shares of common stock to its stockholders on Tuesday morning.

Fox Corporation also announced the appointment of Anne Dias, Chase Carey and Roland A Hernandez to its board of directors - alongside Mr Ryan.

In 2012, Ryan was picked as Mitt Romney's US vice-presidential nominee.

Ryan, a Republican, retired from Congress last year citing his desire to spend more time with his family.

Outlining his appointment, Fox Corporation said he "spearheaded efforts to revise the federal tax code, rebuild the national defense, expand domestic energy production, combat the opioid epidemic, and reform the criminal justice system."

It is likely to further blur lines between politics and media in the US.

US President Donald Trump has been a long-time fan and avid watcher of Fox News - and has close ties with some of the personalities on the network, such as Sean Hannity.

In a tweet last week, Mr Ryan suggested the Republican Party wins elections based on ideas and not "personality contests" like, he claimed, the Democrats and the media want.

To be clear, GOP wins elections when they’re about ideas not when they’re personality contests like Dems & media want. We’re clearly better off because of @RealDonaldTrump. His record of accomplishment is why he’ll win re-election especially when compared to Dems’ leftward lurch.

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) March 13, 2019

On the new appointments, Fox chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said: "We are thrilled to welcome our new colleagues to the Fox board.

"We look forward to working with and being guided by them as we begin a new chapter, steadfastly committed to providing the best in news, sports and entertainment programming."