News Corp. acquiring Dow Jones would be dangerous to competitors

Matthew Flamm of Crain’s New York Business looks at the proposed $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. by News Corp. and comes up with a number of ways that the deal would hurt competitors in business journalism.

Flamm wrote, “While CNBC has the exclusive use of Journal reporters on air until 2012, Mr. Murdoch could find a way to break its contract. ‘If those reporters are suddenly working for News Corp., CNBC might not want them on,’ says Joshua Mills, a professor of journalism at Baruch College.

“Potentially most devastating to rivals could be News Corp’s ability to leverage Dow Jones’ assets across an assortment of outlets. The Journal, for instance, could offer national newspaper advertisers a neatly tied-up multimedia package.

“‘You could have a completely integrated offering, with Fox News, Fox Business, the Fox television network,’ says Michael Neiss, a vice president at Zenith Media. ‘The Times can’t offer anything besides [itself] and the Boston Globe.’

“News Corp. may also offer a solution to Dow Jones’ inability to grow. Mr. Murdoch has promised to expand the company’s foreign operations, where current management has been retrenching. Reinvigorating the paper’s European and Asian editions and its newswires would pose a direct challenge to the Financial Times and Reuters.”

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