Richard Siklos of Fortune reports Thursday that rival Financial Times is refusing to run an ad for The Wall Street Journal that new owner News Corp. wants to place in the business newspaper.
Siklos wrote, “The somewhat cheeky ad can also be seen as a giant rebuttal against critics who have feared the worst from Murdoch’s takeover of one of the most influential and respected newspapers in the world. Skeptics have cited past instances of Murdoch’s imposing his own views on newspapers he owns, and accused him of taking products he owns down-market.
“‘Today the greatest brand in financial journalism joins up with the world’s most restless global media company,’ the ad proclaims.
“According to News Corp. officials, the FT‘s ad department asked that the creative be slightly changed to ‘one of’ the greatest brands in financial journalism – for obvious reasons. An FT official has not yet been reached.”
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