Buffett: Dow Jones Bid Not High

Members of the Ottaway family, which acquired a 6.2% stake in the company's voting shares when it sold a chain of community newspapers to Dow Jones in 1970, expressed those concerns in sharply worded statements on Sunday.

"The sale of Dow Jones to Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. global media giant would lead to loss of the unique news quality and integrity of The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications and Internet services, and loss of the independence and integrity of a leading national editorial voice," said Jim Ottaway Jr., a trustee for most of the family shares and a former Dow Jones executive and board member.

His son, James W. Ottaway, said, "As an investor, I would be very concerned to live in an era of making investment decisions based on the Murdoch-filtered business information. As a citizen, I would be afraid to live in a world where news is solely entertainment, and there is an agenda behind every story I read, watch or hear."

A spokesman for News Corp. told The Journal that the company is disappointed by the Ottaways' comments, "which unfortunately are based on tired misconceptions and clichés." Murdoch is seeking a meeting with them to explain his position, the spokesman said.

Turning the Page on Newspapers

Buffett, who has invested in newspapers like The Buffalo News and The Washington Post (WPO Quote) , also said it is "very, very unlikely" that he would launch a competing bid for Dow Jones, but he did not rule it out completely.