Fix is already in for WSJ oversight committee

Eric Boehlert writes on the Media Matters for America web site that the oversight committee created to protect The Wall Street Journal from meddling by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is already tainted and won’t be effective.

Boehlert wrote, “The committee will meet approximately four times a year, yet its members will get paid handsomely; $100,000 annually for their very limited services. Am I the only one who detects a whiff of a pay-off here? It’s similar to News Corp.’s unusually generous offer to cover the Bancroft family’s bankers and lawyers’ fees totaling more than $40 million, which raised doubts about whether the pro-News Corp. advice some advisers gave the Bancroft family was tainted.

“It’s just another reason why I think journalism pros Fuller and Boccardi ought to think twice before signing on to this Murdoch boondoggle. Both men enjoyed distinguished careers in journalism and boast proud legacies. But accepting Murdoch’s six-figure handout for a quasi no-show job? How is that going to add to their resumes?

“Adding to the discomfort, Fuller and Boccardi will be answering to Bray, tapped by News Corp. to chair the Special Committee. Bray may not have a national reputation, but for readers of the Detroit News who have been banging their heads against the wall for years reading Bray’s columns filled with misinformation, his reputation is well known.”

Read more here.