Murdoch Woos With a Board Seat

In his latest effort to win over the controlling shareholders at Dow Jones (DJ), News Corp. (NWS) CEO Rupert Murdoch didn't raise his $5 billion bid for the venerable publisher, but he did promise measures to protect its editorial independence.

Murdoch, whose editorial practices have been widely criticized in the wake of his offer to buy Dow Jones, sent a letter to members of the Bancroft family on Monday promising to bring one of them onto News Corp.'s board of directors if his offer is accepted. He also vowed to establish an independent editorial board to ensure the editorial integrity of Dow Jones' flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, and its other news-gathering operations.

"Please let me assure you that, first and foremost, I am a newspaper man," Murdoch said in the letter, which was made public by The Journal. "I don't apologize for the fact that I have always had strong opinions and strong ideas about newspapers; but I have also always respected the independence and integrity of the news organizations with which I am associated."

He went on to say that "any interference -- or even hint of interference -- [with Dow Jones' journalistic independence and integrity] would break the trust that exists between the paper and its readers, something I am unwilling to countenance."

The letter comes as part of Murdoch's efforts to ingratiate himself to the family whose ancestors built Dow Jones into perhaps the most influential publisher of business and financial news in the world. While his $60-a-share bid for the company amounts to a whopping 67% premium to the price at which Dow Jones' stock traded before the offer became public, the company has refused to take action on the offer, citing a majority of opposition from the Bancroft family.