Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has won control of Dow Jones & Co and The Wall Street Journal newspaper in a five billion dollar takeover, the US company confirmed on Wednesday.The coup for Murdoch's News Corp after three months of intense negotiations is expected to lead to a dramatic shakeup of the US media landscape.Murdoch comes after tough talks between News Corp, Dow Jones and the divided Bancroft family who have controlled Dow Jones and its flagship business daily for over a century.Under the deal approved by both boards of directors and "certain members of the Bancroft family," a five-member committee will be charged with "assuring the continued journalistic and editorial integrity and independence of Dow Jones' publications and services," the companies said in a statement posted on the Dow Jones website.Some Bancroft family members, echoing the concerns of reporters at the paper, had expressed concerns that the takeover would undermine the newspaper's editorial independence.Murdoch, 76, has built a vast media empire over the decades and is planning to expand his interests further on October 15 with the launch of a News Corp business news cable television channel, Fox Business Network, in the United States.The Journal said Murdoch had stated Monday that he may add four pages of extra news coverage to the Journal.News Corp will still need to get US regulatory approval for the deal, but Murdoch has said he does not anticipate any problem. The Journal said the deal could be closed by the end of the year.
