Steiger: Murdoch's ownership won't affect WSJ's China coverage

Speaking in Beijing, former Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger said that he didn’t believe that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch‘s ownership of the Journal would affect its coverage of China.

An Associated Press story stated, “‘My expectation is that there will be no change in our China coverage,’ Paul Steiger said in Beijing. ‘Coverage of China is an extremely important priority for The Wall Street Journal … it’s very important to our readers and we intend to pursue it actively and we don’t expect there to be any change in that.’

“Murdoch’s eager pursuit of business in China and perceived willingness to kill projects likely to rankle Beijing have raised concerns in journalist and human rights circles about his US$5 billion purchase of Dow Jones & Co., the newspaper’s parent company.

“Earlier this year, a handful of reporters from The Wall Street Journal’s Beijing bureau urged Dow Jones in an open letter to reject Murdoch’s takeover bid over concerns he would meddle in the newspaper’s China coverage. The Journal has won two Pulitzer Prizes over the past seven years for its often-critical coverage of China’s economic and social reforms.”

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