FRIDAY'S LINKS: Google Not Interested in News Biz, How Libel Case Hurts 'Herald,' Murdoch and Dow Jones

By: E&P Staff In today's links, more thoughts on the possiblity of a Murdoch takeover of Dow Jones, how a libel ruling could hurt the Boston Herald, and Google's CEO says his company isn't interested in getting into the news biz.

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-- Reuters: Google CEO says the company isn't interested in making deals to acquire news companies.

-- National Journal: It's been funny watching media people try to wrap their minds around the idea that Rupert Murdoch may be the next owner of Dow Jones, writes William Powers. Not funny ha-ha, but funny as in tragicomic, as in every laugh is also a sob.

-- Boston Phoenix: The SJC's libel ruling won't cripple the media -- but it could seriously hurt the Boston Herald, writes Adam Reilly.

-- The Nation: The first thing the Journal will lose if Murdoch buys it is credibility, a quality it has in rock-solid abundance--as opposed to Murdoch's publications, which have a history of printing fiction, writes Nicholas Von Hoffman.

-- Slate: Jack Shafer speculates on who had a critical profile of Rupert Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, spiked?

-- Time: [Murdoch] has shown a remarkable ability to sniff opportunity where others don't. But he is 76, he won't be around forever, and it's hard to say what News Corp. will be in the absence of his controversial genius. Quite possibly, it will be yet another family media business that stops being a family business.

-- CJR Daily: With [Dow Jones'] independence in serious peril by a bid from Rupert Murdoch?s News Corp., it's time to figure out what went wrong -- and how other family controlled newspaper companies might avoid the same fate, writes Dean Starkman.