Ever since May 1 when Dow Jones, a media firm, let it be known that it had received an unsolicited acquisition proposal from News Corporation, opinion has been divided on a single issue: the motivation of Rupert Murdoch. There was never any doubt that Murdoch’s News Corp had made an exuberantly generous $5-billion bid for Dow Jones, primarily to gain ownership of its financial daily, The Wall Street Journal. But even by established anti-Murdoch standards, the outrage was particularly shrill. WSJ’s vocal and centre-left critics suddenly rallied to the self-appropriated cause of the Bancroft family, majority shareholders of Dow Jones. At risk, they shuddered, was WSJ’s editorial integrity, its combination of skilful reportage and unambiguous commentary. Even the largeness of the bid was offered as proof that something sinister was afoot: why else would a shrewd businessman like Murdoch offer a premium in excess of 60 per cent of the valuation of each share? As is the case with all other conspiracy theories, Murdoch’s acquisition of Dow Jones — made official on August 1 — may be dictated by more straightforward reasons. He has long been known to be on the hunt for a respected business newspaper. He bears a responsibility to his shareholders to make good on the new investment. And, by all accounts, his high bid for WSJ was motivated by a conviction that its business model was not taking apt note of ‘new media’ opportunities. The Dow Jones’ business practices have, by every reckoning, not allowed the Journal to reap dividends from its exceptional, and much recognised, editorial standards. At a time when the West has sounded the countdown to the death of the newspaper, Murdoch’s latest venture is valuable. It is a $5 billion bet on the medium by one of the most pugnacious business moguls of our times. It will also be interesting to watch his interventions in a quality journal at a juncture when survival projections disfavour the middlebrow segment. The financial returns — or lack of them — would be between him and his shareholders. How a newspaper that takes seriously its news and opinion pages updates itself, will be keenly tracked by all of us.
