Pearson, Dow Jones sell stakes in Russian business newspaper

Pearson PLC and Dow Jones & Co. have agreed to sell their stakes in Russian business newspaper Vedomosti, reports Kathrin Hille of the Financial Times.

Hille writes, “The deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year, puts the last foreign-controlled daily news outlet fully into Russian hands.

“A new media law adopted in September 2014, which tightens the limits for foreign investment from 50 per cent in TV and radio to 20 per cent in all media, has triggered a string of similar deals in recent months. These included the recent retreat of German group Axel Springer, which has been publishing the Russian version of Forbes magazine, from the country.

“The changes are seen as further strengthening the Kremlin’s control over Russia’s media, which have lost most of their independence since President Vladimir Putin took power more than 15 years ago.

“A person close to the deal slammed the legislation as ‘practically an expropriation of foreign media.'”

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.