Jobs cuts possible at WSJ if Murdoch deal fails

Richard Perez-Pena and Louise Story of The New York Times write that job cuts at The Wall Street Journal are possible if News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is unsuccessful in acquiring Dow Jones & Co., its parent.

Perez-Pena and Story wrote, “If the $5 billion bid by Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation to buy Dow Jones & Company, which owns The Journal, falls through, declining advertising will mean significant cuts in The Journal’s newsroom staff, according to senior editors and a person close to Dow Jones management, who said they were told individually by company executives.

“Some of these people say that if Mr. Murdoch’s offer had not put other considerations on hold, the news staff would have been trimmed already.

“If Dow Jones remains independent, a reduction in the size of the news staff will probably begin within a few months, and will most likely take the form of buyouts rather than layoffs, these people said. Some jobs might be eliminated even if the deal goes through, they said, though Mr. Murdoch has signaled that he would increase the staff over all.”

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