Beware Biased Coverage of Dow Jones Deal

It appears to be the introductory phase of talk that won't go anywhere. With Dow(n) Jones' interconnected assets, there's little to sell off in order to finance a big leveraged buyout. In other words, unless the buyer is completely nuts, the company itself has to be used as leverage, a loss leader for other related products. And union rank and file will never risk their retirements on the long-term viability of a newspaper alone.

About half the coverage reflects this. The Associated Press writes of how Burkle is helping the union "explore options" in an appropriately perfunctory vein.

But the thought of a collective of business journalists banning together to defeat Murdoch makes others lose their heads: "Investor Burkle eyes bid for Dow Jones: union," screams Reuters.

And look at this Forbes headline: Rupert's Unwanted Competition, followed by the lead, "The bidding for Dow Jones has just become a lot more interesting."

Uh, no. Earliest stage talks that will go nowhere do not amount to competition and are not interesting. Biases are not interesting, either. But they can be treacherous to investors who get fooled by them.