New York Times media columnist David Carr sits back and takes a look at what might happen between News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and the Bancroft family that controls Dow Jones & Co. in his Monday column, available online Sunday night.
Last week, Murdoch made a $5 billion offer for Dow Jones, which owns The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch. The majority of Bancrofts have said they would vote against such a deal.
Carr wrote, “For the time being, Mr. Murdoch’s task is a retail one, persuading the family to meet with him in a kind of creeping tender offer. Until he can tell rather than ask, he will assure them that his reputation as a meddler in newspapers is vastly overstated. He went so far as to suggest that an independent editorial board might be just the thing to calm jangled nerves.
“He’ll need to do some soothing of the newsroom, too. ‘Everyone here is trying to do their jobs from under the ton of bricks that just landed on them,’ one reporter said on Friday.
“If members of the Bancroft family, who are the controlling shareholders of Dow Jones, end up doing business with Mr. Murdoch, it will be less Little Red Riding Hood — ‘My what large share prices you have, Mr. Murdoch!’ — than a proud family succumbing to the laws of the jungle. With share prices sinking in a struggling business, outside stockholders with their lawyers on speed-dial, and no other exit in sight, $5 billion has a nice, solid ring to it.”
OLD Media Moves
Murdoch as the big, bad wolf
May 6, 2007
Posted by Chris Roush
New York Times media columnist David Carr sits back and takes a look at what might happen between News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and the Bancroft family that controls Dow Jones & Co. in his Monday column, available online Sunday night.
Last week, Murdoch made a $5 billion offer for Dow Jones, which owns The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch. The majority of Bancrofts have said they would vote against such a deal.
Carr wrote, “For the time being, Mr. Murdoch’s task is a retail one, persuading the family to meet with him in a kind of creeping tender offer. Until he can tell rather than ask, he will assure them that his reputation as a meddler in newspapers is vastly overstated. He went so far as to suggest that an independent editorial board might be just the thing to calm jangled nerves.
“He’ll need to do some soothing of the newsroom, too. ‘Everyone here is trying to do their jobs from under the ton of bricks that just landed on them,’ one reporter said on Friday.
“If members of the Bancroft family, who are the controlling shareholders of Dow Jones, end up doing business with Mr. Murdoch, it will be less Little Red Riding Hood — ‘My what large share prices you have, Mr. Murdoch!’ — than a proud family succumbing to the laws of the jungle. With share prices sinking in a struggling business, outside stockholders with their lawyers on speed-dial, and no other exit in sight, $5 billion has a nice, solid ring to it.”
Read more here.
Media News
Why Evan Gershkovich’s case is so important
March 28, 2024
Media News
Taylor joins Bloomberg’s municipal finance team
March 28, 2024
Full-Time
KFF Health News seeks a managing editor
March 28, 2024
Media News
KFF Health News executive editor Darlin retiring
March 28, 2024
Media News
WSJ lays off longtime reporter Nissenbaum
March 28, 2024
Subscribe to TBN
Receive updates about new stories in the industry daily or weekly.