Dow Jones board meets as Ottaway fires back

Frank Ahrens of The Washington Post reports that the Dow Jones & Co. board is meeting Wednesday afternoon to consider News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s retooled bid for the owner of The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, Jim Ottaway Jr., who owns a minority stake in Dow Jones, has responded to a letter from the editor of the Times of London, which is owned by Murdoch, which took issue with Ottaway’s assertion that Murdoch has meddled in his media outlet’s coverage of China.

Ahrens wrote, “Today, Ottaway replied to Thomson, saying he was glad that Murdoch has kept his hands off the Times, but that the same cannot be said of the rest of his media properties.

“‘Unfortunately, Mr. Murdoch does not agree with you on this critical issue of business and news integrity for viewers in China of his Star TV,’ Ottaway wrote.

“Murdoch removed the BBC from his Star TV satellite service after Chinese leaders complained about its critical coverage of China’s human-rights record.

“‘He proved that again when he ordered his HarperCollins book publisher to kill a memoir by Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong, critical of Chinese government interference there,’ Ottaway wrote.”

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