MURDOCH/DOW JONES LINKS: Reaction From Around the Web

By: E&P Staff Below is some of the reaction from around the Web this morning to the proposed News Corp. buyout of Dow Jones.

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-- USA Today: Jon Friedman thinks that Murdoch's bid is a marketing ploy to promote the new Fox News business channel slated to debut in the fall.

-- USA Today: "The value of financial journalism and high-quality journalism is that you can charge for it," Murdoch told Neil Cavuto. "The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, I think, are the only two newspapers in the whole world that charge for their online editions."

-- Slate: Rupert Murdoch might be good for the Wall Street Journal, writes Daniel Gross.

-- Wall Street Journal: The conservative slant of the Journal's editorial page is believed to jibe with Rupert Murdoch's own views, while its business purview is close to his heart.

-- Washington Post: "If Murdoch gets control of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones and if he follows the pattern of his past acquisitions, he will use the Wall Street Journal to serve his own purposes, financial and political," Ben H. Bagdikian, author and former dean of the journalism graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley, said.

-- New York Sun: Murdoch's bid is likely to be the opening shot in a round of negotiations that could reshape not only New York's press market but also the rest of the news industry.

-- Wall Street Journal: The fate of Dow Jones & Co. now depends on how much sway the company's controlling shareholders -- the Bancroft family -- exercises against the wishes of other investors.

-- New York Times: There have also been discussions about some family members buying out others to block the deal.

-- Wall Street Journal: How much is a buyer willing to pay for what now is viewed as one of the media world's high-profile prizes?

-- Los Angeles Times: The driving force behind the unsolicited offer appeared to be Murdoch's planned launch this summer of a financial news channel that would compete with CNBC. Dow Jones' expertise online also could help Murdoch move his worldwide newspaper empire more quickly into the digital era.

-- Wall Street Journal: The bid showed that Mr. Murdoch, 76 years old, hasn't lost his taste for newspapers, the sector on which he built his media empire, even if his interest in the Journal is as much for its online presence as its print business.

-- Los Angeles Times: Reporters at the Wall Street Journal, who pride themselves on their paper's thoughtful and high-quality journalism, reacted with near horror Tuesday at the prospect of having Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. as an owner.

-- BusinessWeek: Dow Jones boasts some Web site gems that add to the allure, and Murdoch is no slouch when it comes to online media.