New York Post's history says Murdoch will change WSJ

Robert Snyder writes on the TPM Cafe web site that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s history after he purchased the New York Post in 1976 shows that his assertions that he’ll leave The Wall Street Journal alone if allowed to buy its parent, Dow Jones & Co., are not to be believed.

Snyder, a journalism professor at Rutgers-Newark, wrote, “Under Murdoch’s ownership, the Post became a politically conservative tabloid. It is not a moneymaker for him, but gives him an opening into the New York media market and a platform for his conservative views.

“Of course, there are plenty of Post readers who enjoy its sports pages, gossip and media news without subscribing to its political perspective. But your reaction to its news and editorial pages depends largely on your politics. New Yorkers who found a voice in Schiff’s liberal Post just don’t have one in Murdoch’s Post.

“The Wall Street Journal‘s editorial page is already close to Murdoch’s views in ways that the old Post never was. But the news side of the Journal has a history of independence that might well be compromised under Murdoch. To expect anything different from him is to ignore his history at the New York Post.”

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