What does an independent newspaper mean?

The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal attempts to answer that question Wednesday by looking at its history in light of all of the talk about how News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch would change the paper if he is allowed to purchase its parent company, Dow Jones & Co.

In part, an editorial stated, “Perhaps the sternest commercial test has come as we have expanded abroad, especially in Asia. The Journal has been banned or had its circulation restricted in many countries, and a reporter for another Dow Jones publication went to jail in Malaysia. In Singapore, a big market for the Journal, the government made the editorial page the first target of its campaign to curtail Western coverage of its domestic politics in the mid-1980s. While other companies — notably Bloomberg — have surrendered pre-emptively, the Journal has been nearly alone in fighting back. Freedom of the press has improved in Asia as democracy has expanded, and we’re proud to continue fighting for freedom and human rights today in China.

“We could tell other stories, but the essential point is that our owners have allowed us to speak our mind on behalf of a consistent set of principles. Readers may like, or loathe, those beliefs and our way of defending them. But we like to think this brand of independence is one reason the Journal has attracted such an influential readership. To borrow a phrase from modern business lingo, we hope it is part of our value proposition.

“At a dinner honoring their century of Journal ownership in 2002, Bob Bartley expressed his gratitude to the Bancrofts for their support, noting that some of his editorials over 30 years must not have sat well with everyone in the ideologically diverse clan. But Bartley added that his proudest boast was that he ran the only editorial page ‘that sells newspapers.’ We can’t say what any future owner would do, but we doubt one would be foolish enough to undermine this market appeal.”

Read more here.