Category Archives: Media

Can the Bancrofts Trust the Murdochs?

“It’s a very difficult kind thing to actually put in writing,” said Amy Mitchell, deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
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The End of Harry Potter

The market is pricing
in Harry Potter’s death
.
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How the Bancrofts Changed Their Mind

The Wall Street Journal proves today that, when pushed, it can do excellent
long-form narrative investigative journalism and turn it around within 24 hours.
Much kudos to Matthew Karnitschnig, Sarah Ellison,
Susan Pulliam
and Susan Warren for pulling together
the
definitive story on how the Bancrofts changed their mind
, and getting it
out on today’s front page.
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Rupert Murdoch Suddenly Looks Very Smart Again

The Bancrofts are clearly still holding out some hope for a white knight who can come along and save them from having to sell to Rupert. But there’s now a very good chance that Murdoch will end up with his glorious prize.
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Murdoch Fails the Litmus Test

Murdoch lies to the FT.
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Why is Dow Jones Stock Down Today?

When a stock is trading on one utterly unknown variable — whether or not Rupert will manage to buy it — it will naturally exhibit quite a lot of volatility.
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Thomson-Reuters vs NewsCorp-Dow Jones

Murdoch’s overall approach to his media properties is undoubtedly much more interventionist than the Bancrofts would ever be, which makes his proposed acquisition much more problematic than the relatively easy tie-up between Thomson and Reuters.
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One Question for Rupert Murdoch

Do Fox News, or the New York Post, or the Sun, have editorial independence
or integrity?

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Murdoch Takes Another Shot at Wooing Bancrofts

Dow Jones stock was trading below $52 today before news of Murdoch’s letter came out. Maybe what Murdoch really needs is a credible threat of withdrawing his offer. The problem, of course, is that nobody would believe it.
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Rupert Murdoch Already Is a Global Statesman

Murdoch is already a global statesman, and he has
been one for decades. In fact, he has been the most powerful press baron in
the world for many years now. Owning the Journal would, at the margin, increase
his influence. But Rupert is not some déclassé billionaire with
more money than clout.
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Today in Murdoch: Devilish Deals

Rupert awards Roger Ailes $7,666,666.
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In Defense of Rupert Murdoch

Have Dow Jones journalists really been so beaten down by mismanagement and underinvestment that they can’t recognize an optimist when they see one?
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Thomson-Reuters: Fierce Competitor, or Cozy Duopolist?

The big question is whether Thomson-Reuters will be a fierce competitor to Bloomberg, or whether the two companies will settle down into a relatively cozy duopoly, with every incentive to raise prices and little incentive to cut them.
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Rupert Murdoch: White Knight, or Dark Destroyer?

There’s a good rule of thumb in any takeover battle, when looking at the target
company: if the company’s competitors oppose the deal, it’s probably a good
deal. Let me add another: if the company’s present owners start falling back
onto soaring rhetoric in defense of the status quo, it’s probably a good deal.
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Lou Dobbs, Harmful Populist

Lou Dobbs is a harmful nutcase. But he has every right to be.
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Should Yahoo buy Dow Jones?

Yahoo is one of the few companies which could really revolutionize news on the internet, by making all of the WSJ’s content and archives freely accessible to all.
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The Murdoch Charm Offensive Peters Out

There are limits to the effectiveness of Rupert Murdoch’s
charm offensive, it would seem. Judging by today’s news, indeed, the offensive
seems to have worked only on the journalists who were physically in the room
with him when he was putting his case.
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The Murdoch Charm Offensive Hits New York

The Rupert Murdoch charm offensive hits the New York Times
today, which features a long
interview
with the man himself. And give him credit: he says all the right
things.
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Envisioning a Canadian Reuters

Reuters is already a little boring: What difference would it make if it were Canadian, to boot?
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Bancrofts: More Split Than They Might Seem

Dow Jones’s controlling shareholders only control the company if they’re united. And it’s not clear that they are.
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Lord Browne: Victim of Homophobic Persecution

Browne is very much the victim here. The Daily Mail, which paid over $100,000 to Chevalier for his kiss-and-tell story, is the homophobic persecutor, using the flimsiest of excuses to out the former BP chief.
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WSJ on the WSJ

Has Rupert held out a promise of editorial independence for the Wall Street Journal?
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News Corp-Dow Jones: Hope Yet For Rupert

The unions hate
it
. The owners are going to vote
against
it. The New York Observer says that it’s sunk.
So is there any hope for Rupert Murdoch in his bid to buy Dow
Jones?
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Murdoch-Dow Jones Roundup

Instant reactions to the Dow Jones news.
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Jason Calacanis stands up to bullies

Jeff Jarvis says that Jason Calacanis is "the single most competitive person I’ve ever met," and quotes an email from him claiming "3-4x the traffic of gizmodo" for his rival gadget blog, engadget. (According to Alexa, engadget’s pageviews are just … Continue reading

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