Dow Jones Corp. directors were expected to approve Tuesday night Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion buyout proposal, leaving only a go-ahead from the Bancroft family to complete the deal. Despite the apocalyptic prophecies of doom sounded ad nauseam by some in the mainstream media, Murdoch is exactly what is needed at Dow Jones and its Wall Street Journal flagship.
Whatever one’s view of the Australian press baron’s conservative politics, Murdoch — who once kept a bust of Lenin in his room — may be the most courageous and innovative media giant of the contemporary era. It’s no exaggeration to say Fleet Street likely owes its very existence to Murdoch because he alone had the guts and persistence to challenge and beat the British newspaper unions two decades ago. Without Murdoch’s daring midnight move to Wapping, it is doubtful the English print media would have anything approaching its present intellectual and economic vitality. Nor would the BBC face genuine competition from Murdoch’s feisty Sky News operation.
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It was the same insurgent enthusiasm for challenging the conventional wisdom that fueled Murdoch’s drive to create the entertainment network that birthed such shows as “The Simpsons” and “American Idol.” That same contrarian impulse was also behind Murdoch’s insight that Fox News could profitably serve the growing legions of Americans who were tired of being lectured each evening by talking heads with tired liberal views. Murdoch thus struck healthy blows on behalf of media diversity and loosened the iron grip that chic Manhattanites enjoyed for too long on the country’s elite news outlets.
Now along comes Murdoch with plans for a new business news network to displace CNBC. Adding Dow Jones to the mix promises to bolster the credibility and informational value of the new network, while creating fresh revenue streams needed to strengthen The Wall Street Journal and assure continuation of its journalistic excellence. Murdoch is an astute businessman with a preternatural sense of what audiences want to see, hear and read. But what really sets him apart is his happy audacity. As Examiner columnist Irwin Stelzer recently remarked to The New York Times, challenging the establishment is what gets Murdoch’s “juices flowing.” The Bancrofts should say yes before those juices flow elsewhere — and before they lose that 67 percent premium in Murdoch’s offer.
