Dow Jones union is going about this the wrong way

Forbes.com columnist Gary Weiss writes that the union that represents business journalists at Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, should not be bringing alternative bidders to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch to the bargaining table.

Weiss wrote, “If IAPE wants to preserve the editorial independence of Dow Jones, it needs to oppose any buyer, not just any buyer whose name begins with ‘Rupert.’ This ‘anything but Rupert’ strategy could very easily backfire, when (not if, when) the post-takeover layoffs begin.

“If the person performing the layoffs is a supermarket or a vitamin or an Internet or a ladies-corset magnate, he could simply say, ‘I have to do this so that I could afford to save your blessed company from Rupert Murdoch.’

“Perhaps IAPE should take a train ride to Philadelphia one of these days, and think about what happens when amateurs buy newspapers. After the Philadelphia Inquirer was sold to local entrepreneurs, the aftermath included advertisements on the front page and plastering the name of a bank across the business section.”

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