Kudlow calls the proposed purchase of Dow Jones by News Corp "totally
awesome", while investor Michael
Price says "this really would be unbelievable". Everybody’s excited,
although it’s not clear exactly what it is they’re excited about. (Actually,
in Price’s case it is clear: he owns 350,000 shares of Dow Jones, so he’s excited
about having made over $7 million today.)
Ritholtz reckons it’s not the newspaper which is driving this deal: "Murdoch’s
obvious interest is using the Dow Jones infrastructure to power the News Corp
Business channel which will be competing with CNBC sometime in the coming year,"
he says. Meanwhile, the New
York Times tells us that "The bid for Dow Jones in part reflects Mr.
Murdoch’s belief that combining the company’s print and online assets
with a television outlet could prove immensely valuable and competitive."
I’m sure that Murdoch is justifying the $5 billion price tag by looking at
TV synergies. But I also have a very strong feeling that what he really
wants is the Journal, price be damned. It’s the closest thing that the US has
to a quality national newspaper, and I’m sure that Murdoch would want to move
it further in that direction, making it more accessible to a broader audience
and competing more with the New York Times. The Journal, right now, is bone
dry, and that’s not an attribute one readily ascribes to Murdoch properties.
One question which has been bugging me: Murdoch is known for micromanaging
the editorial side of his newspapers. If you edit the Sun, or the Times, or
the New York Post, you will talk to Rupert a lot, and he will
tell you what to print. Why didn’t any heads roll after the New York Post splashed
Dick Gephardt all over its front page, saying he was John Kerry’s choice for
VP? ‘Cos the story came straight from Rupert.
All serious US newspapers have an almost religious belief in editorial independence,
the Wall Street Journal included. In Rupert’s mind, freedom of the press belongs
to those who own one, and I can’t imagine him recusing himself from editorial
decisions. Whether and how he tries to square that circle will be fascinating
to see.