An Independent Newspaper

AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] "Don't believe the man who tells you there are two sides to every question. There is only one side to the truth." So wrote William Peter Hamilton, one of the first men to hold the job of editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, in the early decades of the last century. For editorial writers worth their pay, those are words to live by, and we hope to be living by them for a long time to come. That's a point worth stressing amid the news that the Bancroft family may soon sell the Journal's parent company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. or some other bidder. The Bancrofts have been exceptional stewards of this newspaper for more than a century. But capitalism is dynamic, and those of us who extol the virtues of Joseph Schumpeter's "creative destruction" for others can't complain when it sweeps through our own industry. That's what is happening as the Internet breaks up long-time media business models, and Dow Jones is hardly immune. The Bancrofts have every right as owners to sell or not based on their own dictates, and what we say won't matter in any event. On January 2, 1951, William Grimes wrote a memorable editorial, "A Newspaper's Philosophy," that summed up our worldview this way: "On our editorial page we make no pretense of walking down the middle of the road. Our comments and interpretations are made from a definite point of view. We believe in the individual, in his wisdom and his decency. We oppose all infringements on individual rights, whether they stem from attempts at private monopoly, labor union monopoly or from an overgrowing government. People will say we are conservative or even reactionary. We are not much interested in labels but if we were to choose one, we would say we are radical." Even 56 years later, that still sounds good to us. Whether the Bancroft family sells or not, and no matter who is the buyer, we plan to stand for those beliefs for as long into the future as we are able.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118109025930525819.html?mod=todays_us_op...
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* My Sweet Press Lord
[Commentary] Here's my dream, and it's a not good one. The day comes when a controversialist like Rupert Murdoch bids to buy the Journal -- and no one cares.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118109648149125994.html?mod=todays_us_op...
(requires subscription)