Charles Apple

The deed has been done.

Judging by all the buzz Tuesday and today, you’d think that Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal was as important as, say, the rollout of a new piece of hardware from Apple Computer.

Nevertheless, this is an event of importance to our industry. Save yourself some time and read our roundup.

Murdoch, pictured last week in Time magazine.
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 David Carr of The New York Times reports today:

You can bet serious money — billions even — that the article about the sale of The Wall Street Journal and the rest of Dow Jones & Company in today’s Journal will be fully and ferociously reported, with no quarter given to its new owner, Rupert Muroch.

But given Mr. Murdoch’s history and human nature, how long will that last?

Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/business/media/01carr.html?ref=media

Many readers agree. Louise Story and Angel Jennings of The New York Times report:

 “It’s a sad day for journalism,” declared Jason R. Bader, a Wall Street lawyer who picks up The Journal every day on his way to work and said he had been watching the story develop with disdain.

…“Rupert Murdoch is the devil and I will never believe another word out of that paper,” Mr. Bader said. “I will never read it again.”

Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/business/media/01react.html

Naturally, Journal employees are uneasy. Walter Hamilton reports in today’s L.A. Times:

“People are aghast that this could have happened,” said one reporter, who like others spoke on condition on anonymity. “It’s a sickening realization to know that this really great iconic newspaper is [not only] no longer going to be independent, but is also going to be controlled by a man whose values are inimical to ours.” 

…The newsroom was particularly incensed by the detail, disclosed on the Journal’s website Tuesday, that Dow Jones had agreed to pay the Bancroft family’s advisory and legal fees related to the merger, which are estimated to be at least $30 million.

The journalists viewed the payment, which would ultimately be made by Murdoch’s News Corp., as an improper incentive for wavering family members to support the deal.

“There’s a real feeling that this place covers the worst in corporate behavior and our executives should have known better,” one reporter said.

Read it in today’s LAT:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fi-journal1aug01,1,3921048.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true

Perhaps one of the snarkiest jabs at Murdoch came from the New York Times visuals side. It presents this illustration today, credited to Vince Natale:

The parallel, of course, is with this iconic photo from Citizen Kaine:

We’ll pause while you wipe the coffee spittle off your monitor…

-Pause-

Story and Jennings, in the aforementioned NYT story, report:

After work, Journal reporters gathered at Moran’s, a downtown bar, to commiserate. “It meant more to be a Wall Street Journal reporter yesterday than it does tomorrow,” said one of them. “I worked hard to get here, and I feel like I will always tell people that I was here before Murdoch. There will always be a before and an after.”

One reporter for the Marketplace section said that he and many of his colleagues are thinking about leaving. “It won’t be automatic, but check back in nine months,” he said. 

However, Story and Jennings write:

Not everyone was unhappy with the news — and some people were openly elated. In the advertising community, executives expressed optimism that Mr. Murdoch would invest resources in The Journal, making it more attractive to advertisers.

And Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” and a former hedge fund manager, said he expected Mr. Murdoch to transform The Journal into a “more relevant paper.” In particular, he said, he thought the new ownership could enliven the daily Heard on the Street column and make it more of a must-read.

This is echoed in some of the other reaction pieces, as well. Editor & Publisher, for example reported Tuesday:

“I think it will be a good deal for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal,” William Dean Singleton, CEO and vice chairman of MediaNews Group, tells E&P. “I think Rupert will probably make it even better.

…Singleton said worries that Murdoch would hurt the Journal’s editorial independence “are way over done… I don’t have a lot of patience for journalists who sit around wringing their hands over change and wish things would stay the way they’ve been.”

Read the E&P reaction story here:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003618978

L. Gordon Crovitz, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, writes on today’s opinion page:

Readers can rely on this: The same standards of accuracy, fairness and authority will apply to this publication, regardless of ownership. Our reporters and editors feel an especially strong obligation because the Journal, from the beginning, redefined financial and business journalism. 

Find that here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118592510130784008.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Naturally, in today’s lead WSJ editorial agrees:

…the critics insult the standards and culture of our reporters and editors. They aren’t potted plants who will abandon the habits of a lifetime because someone else owns Dow Jones. Yes, we all must adapt to the new ways in which readers want to receive business and political news. But to claim that the Journal will cease being a credible source of such news is to malign the integrity of 700 career professionals.

On this point, readers also shouldn’t misinterpret the “editorial independence” agreement between Mr. Murdoch and the Bancrofts. This isn’t intended to be some heat shield protecting Journal editors from their new owner. We know enough about capitalism to know that there is no separating ownership and control. We see the editorial agreement, instead, as an expression of Mr. Murdoch’s intention to maintain the values and integrity of the Journal. His invitation to have a member of the Bancroft family join the News Corp. board is a similar gesture of good faith. 

Read it here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118592457581183994.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

Richard Siklos — again, in today’s New York Times — seems to think that Murdoch may invest in the content side:

 “There’s a very low probability that there’s a grand plan,” said one person close to Mr. Murdoch.

But based on his history, there is little doubt that Mr. Murdoch will directly aim at luring both readers and advertising away from The New York Times and The Financial Times, The Journal’s closest rivals. His strategy will probably include aggressively undercutting advertising and investing heavily in editorial content — particularly in Washington and international news — absorbing losses at first to win the longer-term war.

At its most ambitious, Mr. Murdoch’s vision for Dow Jones would establish The Journal as the rival to The Times in setting the daily news agenda of the country.

Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/business/media/01murdoch.html?ref=media

Once more, back to Story and Jennnings in today’s NYT:

Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” and a former hedge fund manager, said he expected Mr. Murdoch to transform The Journal into a “more relevant paper.” In particular, he said, he thought the new ownership could enliven the daily Heard on the Street column and make it more of a must-read.

“I start my day with The New York Post business section because it’s very punchy, very relevant, very exciting,” Mr. Cramer said in a telephone interview. “I am a genuine believer that you can be punchier without sacrificing quality.” CNBC, which will see competition this fall from the Fox Business Network that the News Corporation is planning, has a content-sharing deal with Dow Jones.

View the WSJ’s slideshow of its own history here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118287630449948688.html 

See a nice NYT chart about the change here:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/07/31/business/20070801_DOW1_subGRAPHIC.gif

Read a Wall Street Journal Q&A with Murdoch from earlier this summer here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118115049815626635.html

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 8:51 am and is filed under Industry woes, Newspapers, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.