Too soon to tell if Murdoch offer affects Dow Jones' union talks

In an interview with the South Brunswick Post paper in New Jersey, the president of the union that represents business journalists at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Dow Jones Newswires and Marketwatch said it was too early to tell if News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s offer to acquire Dow Jones & Co. would have any affect on talks about a new contract.

Paul Koepp wrote, “Mr. Yount said it would be a bad idea for the Bancroft family to accept any takeover bid because a new owner would likely look to cut costs and jobs.

“‘When you’re trying to keep the Titanic afloat, you’re not worried about the design of the individual lifeboats,’ he said. ‘It would be a fundamental change to the integrity and credibility of the company, and it would impact everyone who works here. There is no need to sell Dow Jones.’

“Mr. Yount said it was ‘too soon to tell’ what effect Mr. Murdoch’s offer would have on ongoing contract negotiations between company management and the union, which represents employees in news, advertising sales, technology, circulation and administration.

“The IAPE approved its current contract in August 2004 after a year of contentious negotiations, during which union members voted down an initial contract agreement because it would have increased costs and reduced benefits for health care.”

Read more here. Dow Jones has a campus in South Brunswick. The Packet is part of a group of newspapers in New Jersey owned by the Kilgore family. Barney Kilgore, who ran the Wall Street Journal from the early 1940s until his death in 1967, is considered the best business journalist of the 20th century.