Seven Years Later: What Exactly Did Rupert Murdoch Do To The Wall Street Journal?

[Commentary] Seven years ago, Rupert Murdoch ended the 105-year-long ownership of the Wall Street Journal by the Bancroft family, when he bought the paper for $5 billion. Employees, readers, and investors were terrified that Murdoch might turn the Journal into, say, the New York Post. Instead, Murdoch's determination to keep print journalism alive may have been the best thing that ever happened to the Journal. Sarah Ellison, a former Journal reporter, wrote a highly regarded, captivating book, "War At The Wall Street Journal", that captured the drama, intensity, corporate infighting, and financial deal-making that left the Journal in Murdoch's hands.

I interviewed Ellison to see how different the Journal has become since Murdoch's acquisition. When asked what has been Murdoch's influence on the Journal, Ellison said, "It's still a great paper, and you can't ignore the fact that it has maintained a newsroom at a time when many, many newspapers have hollowed out. One of Murdoch's great legacies will be that he is someone who believed in the newspaper business. That was something that defined him back in 2007 when the deal happened, but it makes him almost unique today. And for that, I think the people who are still at the Wall Street Journal are very grateful."

[Michael Levin is a NYT Bestselling author]