Dow Jones Thinks It Will Rein In Rupert Murdoch
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the pact on editorial independence negotiated by Dow Jones and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in advance of Murdoch's probable takeover of the company. The agreement sets up a board that has approval over the hiring and firing of the top three positions at the Journal as well as providing for injunctive relief in case Murdoch tries to do an end-run around the committee (which, if history is any indication, he almost certainly will). How else does the pact tie the wily Australian's meddling hands?
[O]bservers agree that while the notion of enforcement is important, what appears to be more crucial is the power of the press: After adjudicating any disagreement between editors and News Corp., the committee can publish its findings on the Journal editorial page.
"At the end of the day if there is bad faith on either side, I'm not sure how effective anything could be," says Mr. Schulz. But "they can go public with their findings, and that seems to be their most important power," he says. Mr. Schulz has done some legal work for Dow Jones in the past.
Brilliant! Nobody believes the crap they publish on the WSJ editorial page now; how credible do you think it's going to be once Murdoch starts dumbing the paper down? We picture Rupert laughing himself silly and saying, "Sure, print whatever you want! We'll run it in full color if you like! Also, you're all fired."
