British journalist stands by story that Dow Jones/Murdoch deal is done

Richard Siklos of The New York Times reports for Monday’s newspaper that Andrew Neil, the editor and CEO of British magazine The Business, stands behind his story last week that states that a deal between Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is done.

A Dow Jones spokeswoman issued a statement Friday saying that the story was incorrect.

Siklos wrote, “But Mr. Neil said in an interview that his co-author on the article, a reporter named James Forsyth, had called Dow Jones and that it would not elaborate on the record which aspects of the report were incorrect.

“‘They’re all swearing at us because, I assume, they’re all out at the Hamptons,’ said Mr. Neil, who was phoning from outside the Ritz Hotel in London where he was having drinks ‘after a long day.’ He said that protestations about the article were ‘all rubbish.’

“‘It’s all true,’ he added. ‘I wouldn’t have put my name on it if it wasn’t true.’

“But he also made it clear that Mr. Murdoch was not one of his sources. He said the media baron has not spoken to him in a dozen years, since Mr. Neil published a memoir, ‘Full Disclosure’ about his years editing The Sunday Times. Rather, he said, his information came from negotiators on the Dow Jones side.”

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