Pearson/GE bid for Dow Jones could lead to layoffs

A joint bid by the parent companies of The Financial Times and business news cable network CNBC for Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, might not be better for business journalists than the News Corp. offer, writes Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times.

Perez-Pena wrote, “But a person with knowledge of the Pearson-G.E. talks noted that a deal with those companies might not be to the journalists’ liking, either, because it offers more opportunities to cut jobs by eliminating overlapping functions. The Financial Times, The Journal, the newswires and CNBC often have reporters and editors doing much the same work — in some cases, in bureaus in Asia and Europe that are expensive to run.

“In addition to the strategic advantages of joining forces with Dow Jones and The Journal — two of the most respected names in business journalism — a deal would have defensive value for Pearson and G.E. The News Corporation plans to start a business news channel on cable to compete with CNBC, and analysts predict that Mr. Murdoch would try to use The Journal to crush The Financial Times, its much smaller rival.”

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