New York Times Won't Go Way of Dow Jones

With the prospects of a rich buyout looming at Dow Jones (DJ Quote), shares of its newspaper counterpart, New York Times (NYT Quote), have surged on speculation that the days of its lopsided corporate structure are also numbered.

But while the old order appears to be crumbling, the Gray Lady isn't necessarily next in line.

Like Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, New York Times has a family -- the Sulzbergers -- that controls the company through ownership of a separate class of stock that gives them far more voting power than public shareholders.

The arrangement is designed to ward off takeover attempts, thereby allowing New York Times to enjoy the fruits of the public market while still preserving its editorial standards and independence in the hands of its original owners and their progeny, who view themselves as protectors of a public trust that is essential to the health of American democracy.

Such sentiments hold little appeal on Wall Street, where cash is king and the flood of digital communications is giving rise to a new age of active shareholders demanding their rights.

Furthermore, the rise of the Internet, and the wide array of information sources that comes with it, is breeding a perception that the principles of journalism that rose to prominence in the 20th century are becoming outdated and irrelevant.