Ex-Dow Jones shareholders speak about News Corp. scandal

Jennifer Saba and Jasmin Melvin of Reuters write late Wednesday about the News Corp. phone hacking scandal and get the reaction of former Dow Jones & Co. shareholders, who sold The Wall Street Journal to the company in 2007.

Saba and Melvin write, “‘I think the UK hacking scandal has the potential to damage the Wall Street Journal’s reputation,’ said Jay Ottaway, whose family owned 6.2 percent of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co before it was sold to News Corp.

“‘However, I think it would be unfair since the quality of the people and reporting at the Wall Street Journal is much higher (than) at other News Corp newspapers and television properties,’ he told Reuters by email. The Ottaway family had voted against the sale of Dow Jones to Murdoch.”

Later they write, “Another former Dow Jones owner, Christopher Bancroft, has no regrets about selling the Journal to Murdoch.

“The Bancrofts were one of the newspaper industry’s most storied stewards until they sold Dow Jones for $5.6 billion to News Corp after an internal battle that pitted family members against one another.

“‘I have to thank Rupert for persisting and for buying the paper,’ said Bancroft. ‘The paper is still very, very good and it’s growing…He hasn’t sullied up the paper or changed it to the point that is unrecognizable and he’s protected the franchise.'”

Read more here.