Murdoch Wins Dow Jones: Now What?
08/01/07 - 11:40 AM EDT
Nat Worden
In a letter to readers on Wednesday, Wall Street Journal Publisher Gordon Crovitz promised that Dow Jones' (DJ Quote - Cramer on DJ - Stock Picks) coming transition from being a family-controlled business to being a tiny part of a giant global media conglomerate will not change the vaunted journalistic standards of the prized newspaper.
"The same standards of accuracy, fairness and authority will apply to this publication, regardless of ownership," said Crovitz. "Our reporters and editors feel an especially strong obligation because the Journal, from the beginning, redefined financial and business journalism." The comments reflect widely held concerns that News Corp. (NWS Quote - Cramer on NWS - Stock Picks) CEO Rupert Murdoch, who claimed victory in his bid to buy the Journal's parent late Tuesday, will meddle with the editorial traditions long practiced at the publisher that have built its reputation as the most influential publisher of business and financial news in the world. Murdoch's $5 billion bid for Dow Jones split the Bancroft family, the company's super-voting shareholders that control 64% of its voting power. In the end, family members amounting to 37% of the company's voting power were poised to accept the offer, giving News Corp. enough support, when combined with the voting power held by public shareholders, to proceed with the transaction. Dow Jones announced in the early morning hours Wednesday that it signed a definitive merger agreement with News Corp. in a deal valued at about $5.6 billion. Barring any regulatory hurdles, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, and a member of the Bancroft family will take a seat on News Corp.'s board.
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