Dow Jones/News Corp. coverage has jumped the shark

Old-timers who watched the “Happy Days” show in the 1970s will recognize the phrase “jumped the shark.” It’s in reference to the episode when Fonzie jumped a shark on the show — a signal that the show had lost all connection with reality.

Dealbreaker.com’s John Carney believes the same thing has happened with the coverage of the proposed deal between Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, and News Corp.

Carney wrote, “The business news media is obsessed with the story—which just happens to be about the business news media. And sometime late last night and early this morning—to the sound of full-color print presses humming and newspaper delivery trucks idling—the coverage of the story really began to plumb the depths of its own navel.

“This morning the New York Times delivered the news that—as the headline proclaimed—‘Wall St. Journal Editors Held News of Murdoch Bid.’ (Click here for Joe Weisenthal’s reaction in Opening Bell.) It’s a story that the Times editors viewed as important enough to run on the front page of the business section. So what we end up with is a story in a business section (the Times) about how a business news organization (the Journal) covered an acquisition about a business news organization (also the Journal). And now all the other business news organizations (CNBC, the wire services, DealBreaker) are reporting and commenting on that.”

Read more here. Just one problem with Carney’s commentary: He writes that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch promised Journal managing editor Paul Steiger to keep him in that position, but Steiger is retiring at the end of the year, and a new ME takes over next week.