NY Post to ignore WSJ's issues now

Slate.com media critic Jack Shafer writes that he’s worried that the New York Post, which used to love skewering The Wall Street Journal and parent company Dow Jones & Co., will now shy away from such stories now that they’re both owned by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.

Shafer wrote, “Since Murdoch’s News Corp. made its Dow Jones play, the Post has gone silent on Dow Jones labor issues. For instance, on Aug. 14, the IAPE led a newsroom walkout of Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires employees. Convening in a park, they signed an oversized card congratulating Murdoch on his acquisition of Dow Jones and urged him to give them a ‘quality contract.’

“In the old days, the Post would have commemorated the union’s agitprop with a headline such as ‘WSJ Staffers Take a Hike, Send Love Letter.’ But the paper ignored the demo. This was in keeping with the blind eye the paper turned on a June 29 union protest, in which Wall Street Journal reporters skipped work in the morning to oppose Murdoch’s bid for Dow Jones and demand a better contract.

“It’s tough for any publication to report on itself or about its owners, yet Murdoch’s ownership of the Post didn’t discourage the tabloid from covering in detail the progress of the Dow Jones deal. That the New York Post no longer wishes to kick the union anthill now that the ants work for Murdoch should come as no surprise.”

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