{"id":424,"date":"2007-05-01T13:16:46","date_gmt":"2007-05-01T20:16:46","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2007-05-30T15:56:17","modified_gmt":"2007-05-30T22:56:17","slug":"murdoch-makes-bid-for-dow-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=424","title":{"rendered":"Murdoch Makes Bid For Dow Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has made an unsolicited offer to purchase<\/a> the Dow Jones Company, owner of, among other things, the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones is majority controlled by the Bancroft family, who have been reluctant to sell in the past. But the combination of the poor performance of newspaper investments and the nearly 50% premium that Murdoch is offering may represent a more tempting proposal than they have seen before. The significance of this potential acquisition extends to a variety of concerns that should raise field of red flags.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
News Corp is rapidly overwhelming the most intimate and influential components of our society.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The first and most obvious concern relates to the ongoing problem of media consolidation. The News Corp. empire already owns the nation’s largest cable news network, a major broadcast entertainment network, numerous TV and radio stations, a prominent film\/TV studio, entertainment and sports cable networks, magazine and newspaper holdings, publishing companies including HarperCollins, and Internet properties including the world’s largest social networking site, MySpace. Dow Jones, in addition to the Wall Street Journal, owns the Dow Jones Newswire, Barrons Magazine, the Dow Jones Indexes, and popular Internet destinations spun off of the Journal and Barrons.<\/p>\n

The thought of these two highly influential media conglomerates merging should stir up some anxiety under any circumstances. But add in the recent announcement<\/a> by Fox of their intention to launch a new Fox Business Channel this fall and that anxiety should escalate into full blown vertigo. Placing the assets of Dow Jones under the same umbrella that runs what will be a formidable player in cable financial news will produce an anti-competitive megalith that can only result in a decline in journalistic aspirations as well as further erosion of the public interest. But the problem is worse than just any media group acquiring Dow Jones. The Fox aqcuisition brings along with it Murdoch’s previously admitted biases and rejection of the most basic principles of journalism. As a reminder, Murdoch told conferees at a McGraw-Hill media summit that…<\/p>\n

“…a Fox channel would be ‘more business-friendly than CNBC.’ That channel ‘leap[s] on every scandal, or what they think is a scandal.'”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If that’s a preview of what we can expect from the Fox Business Channel, and the Fox-run Wall Street Journal, we do have real cause for concern. It would mean an end to objectivity and accuracy in favor of being more “friendly”<\/em> toward the institutions that are being covered.<\/p>\n

But that’s not all. The assets of Dow Jones span a unique stretch of the American landscape. The Wall Street Journal, while widely considered to have a conservative slant on its editorial pages, is often a valuable contributor to serious investigative journalism. And its management of the stock market indexes that influence much of the economic activity in the country, and the world, depend on fealty to the marketplace and not other subjective criteria. How can such impartial management be expected from Murdoch, who also made this confession<\/a> at a conference in Davos, Switzerland, when asked if he had managed to shape the agenda on the war in Iraq:<\/p>\n

“No, I don’t think so. We tried.<\/strong>” Asked by [Charlie] Rose for further comment, he said: “We basically supported the Bush policy in the Middle East.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Would he try to use his new toys to shape the economy by publishing articles supportive of Bush (or other neocon) policy? Would he try to manipulate the contents of the Dow 30, or other market indexes, for partisan purposes?<\/p>\n

Murdoch’s ambitions are notorious and frightening. These latest moves bring us closer to the tightening of the noose around America’s throat. News Corp is rapidly overwhelming the most intimate and influential components of our society. They may soon control the perceptions of our politics (Fox News), our culture (Fox Entertainment), and now our economy (Fox Business Channel\/DowJones). And anyone who isn’t afraid of this – afraid enough to be motivated to act – is probably already infected, likely beyond salvation. I hope that does not include YOU!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has made an unsolicited offer to purchase the Dow Jones Company, owner of, among other things, the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones is majority controlled by the Bancroft family, who have been reluctant to sell in the past. But the combination of the poor performance of newspaper investments and the nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-media","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-6Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1151,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1151","url_meta":{"origin":424,"position":0},"title":"The Wall Street Journal After A Year With Murdoch","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/13\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It was one year ago today that the Dow Jones Company, parent of the Wall Street Journal, agreed to be acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. That transaction marked another step in the shrinking universe of media ownership. Specifically, it was the consumption of a revered publishing institution by a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":425,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=425","url_meta":{"origin":424,"position":1},"title":"More Fallout From the Fox Street Journal","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/2\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Dow Jones's Bancroft Family Rejects Murdoch's Offer: Dow Jones & Co. said Bancroft family members who control more than 50 percent of the company's voting shares will reject a $5 billion takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. This still doesn't mean it's over. Murdoch could sweeten the offer and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":430,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=430","url_meta":{"origin":424,"position":2},"title":"Murdoch Burned By Dow Jones Spurn","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/8\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"While Rupert is Wall Street Jonesin to expand his empire, the Dow J contingent just aint feelin it. Aside from the fact that the DJ's controlling family, the Bancrofts, have already expressed their opposition to the takeover; and the paper's union is firmly against Murdoch's proposal; and journalism experts have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1124,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1124","url_meta":{"origin":424,"position":3},"title":"News Corp Suffers 30% Decline In Income","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/6\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In its quarterly earnings report released yesterday, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation reported a net income decline of 30 percent: \"Fiscal 2009 profit will drop in the 'low to mid teens' in percentage terms, New York-based News Corp. said on a conference call yesterday after U.S. markets closed, citing falling advertising\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":460,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=460","url_meta":{"origin":424,"position":4},"title":"An Alternative To Murdoch For Dow Jones","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/4\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bancroft Family met today with Satan...er...Rupert Murdoch to discuss selling their soul...er...interest in Dow Jones. The meeting was a capitulation to an untrustworthy media baron whose word is about as reliable as a New York Post Page 6 columnist. At the meeting, Murdoch likely insisted that he has no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":552,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=552","url_meta":{"origin":424,"position":5},"title":"L A Times Downplays FCC Hurdles For Dow Jones Deal","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/9\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Los Angeles Times published an article yesterday titled, \"Dow Jones deal prompts call to broaden cross-ownership ban,\" that included this passage: \"Federal rules try to limit media power by prohibiting a company from owning a newspaper and a TV station in the same city. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}