Examining NYTimes coverage of Murdoch/Dow Jones saga

Michael Calderone of The New York Observer takes a look at the New York Times’ coverage of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and his attempts to purchase Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal.

Calderone wrote, “Daily reporting in the pages of The Times from business reporters Richard Siklos, Andrew Ross Sorkin and Richard Pérez-Peña, and columns by Joe Nocera, David Carr and Floyd Norris as well as an entry on the Times editorial page.

So what propelled The Times to flood the zone by inaugurating a special, multi-bureau reporting project, helmed by Times managing editor Jill Abramson, that would bring lead writer Jo Becker, London bureau reporters Jane Perlez and Raymond Bonner back into the mix?”

Later, Calderone concluded, “Previous pieces in The Times, largely emanating from the business desk, focused reporting on the terms of the independence deal and the likelihood of the Bancrofts finally giving in to Mr. Murdoch’s advances.

“But the larger question—just how much independence could Mr. Murdoch really offer, without applying a wholly different standard to his Dow Jones properties from the ones he has applied elsewhere?—had remained largely unanswered in The Times’ overall report.”

Read more here.