I just don’t understand the Bancroft family’s reluctance to sell Dow Jones and Co. to Rupert Murdoch on the basis of editorial independence for The Wall Street Journal.  The editorial page pf WJS is already one of the most right-wing editorial pages in the country; what about Rupert Murdoch’s politics will not mesh with that? OK, maybe they’re concerned with reports that Murdoch has killed stories in his New York Post that didn’t make his best friend China look to good, but again would something like that end up on the Journal’s editorial page?  If the Bancrofts don’t want to sell they need to tell the man no; otherwise, put up or shut up.

When it was announced that Rupert Murdoch was making a bid for the Dow Jones Company a lot of people “in the know,” or at least claim to be, said Murdoch buying Dow Jones shouldn’t be reason for alarm.  They said that while it’s certainly true that Murdoch is politically Conservative he does not interfere with his newspapers; that profits are what he’s interested in.  Well, I had to called bullshit on that.  The man has run The Weekly Standard at a loss for years just in order to push a political agenda.  His Fox News Channel is little more than a mouthpiece for the Republican Party.  Now, it’s come to light that Murdoch has personally pulled stories that would not be in the best interests of his company.  Letting Rupert Murdoch have control of one of the world’s premiere financial newspaper would be a mistake and I hope the Bancroft family realizes that.

…Rupert Murdoch in control of the Wall Street Journal.  While I think the the WSJ Opinion Journal is a purveyor of the worst kind of right-wing bullshit, I actually enjoy reading the Journal itself.  In my opinion it’s one of the best financial sources out there, but what will come of that if Murdoch gets control?  Will it become the financial version of Murdoch’s craptacular New York Post?  I shudder to think.