Categories: OLD Media Moves

News Corp. ad on WSJ acquisition seeks to rewrite its history

Conde Nast Portfolio’s “Jack Flack“ argues that the ad that appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other newspapers heralding News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch‘s acquisition of Dow Jones & Co., the Journal’s parent, is a clever way for the company to rewrite its history from being a bully to being a company that defies conventional wisdom.

Flack wrote, “This may all seem like a big stretch for long-time Murdoch watchers. But consider yourself warned — if told with conviction, discipline and in close connection to visible actions, the Desired Future Story can be quite effective, harnessing the formidable power of the dynamic best-known as the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’

“And keep in mind, the acquisition of the Journal gives Murdoch a big opportunity to generate a huge number of highly visible plot points designed to challenge the conventional wisdom that (a) newspapers are a losing investment and (b) Rupe takes everything down-market.

“That seems a bit manipulative, and it may well be. But the end effect will be that the Wall Street Journal will get bigger and better.

“And so will Rupert Murdoch’s image.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.