Murdoch's Editors Know His Voice

MURDOCH'S EDITORS KNOW HIS VOICE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Martin Peers martin.peers@wsj.com and Aaron O. Patrick aaron.patrick@wsj.com]
Some owners of newspapers seldom, if ever, speak to their editors. Rupert Murdoch is not one of them. To generations of newspaper editors, the News Corp. chairman and chief executive's voice is familiar: He telephones to pass on news tips or story ideas, complain about the tone of the paper's coverage, or just catch up on gossip. Mr. Murdoch's hands-on style differs markedly from the traditions of the publisher he now wants to buy. The Bancroft family, the controlling shareholder of Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co., has long maintained a distance from the company's operations. The family, which owns 24.7% of the equity but through supervoting stock has voting control, has board representation but no involvement with direct management of the paper. While the editorial page has a conservative political viewpoint, a strict separation is enforced between the editorial page and the newsroom, designed to ensure opinion and news coverage don't mix. The Bancroft family is steeped in that culture, and a sense of pride in the company's long history and independence has led them to endure an often-sluggish stock price over the years. For that reason, how Mr. Murdoch might change the culture of the Journal is likely to be an issue as Dow Jones and the Bancrofts consider his bid.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB117815037579090204,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
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