Eric Savitz (Barron’s), a Dow Jones shareholder and member of the IAPE, a union representing DJ editorial employees which has declared itself to be in opposition to the acquisition of Dow Jones by News Corp., writes:
Goodbye, Dow Jones (DJ), it has been nice knowing you.
The Bancroft family, which has voting control of the company that publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and this blog, has apparently softened in its opposition to Rupert Murdoch’s $60 a share takeover offer.
Take this statement to its logical conclusion, and Dow Jones seems destined to follow Knight-Ridder and the dodo bird into extinction.
I am not sure.
The Bancroft family and their Dow Jones managers have been unable to confront the challenges of the digital world.
My feeling is that The Wall Street Journal is a first-class product with second-class management.
Perhaps Rupert Murdoch can do it better.
So… give him a chance.
I am sure that News Corporation has better managers.
And this is not just my opinion.
Today’s New York Times says the same:
Despite its journalistic reputation, Dow Jones has often struggled financially for 15 years.
As business information began to be transmitted electronically, Dow Jones got caught in the downdraft caused by readers and advertisers migrating to the Web.
The Journal itself, despite weekday circulation of more than two million, second only to USA Today in the United States, has lagged far behind most major papers in profit margin.
(A great picture of Rupert from Gary Voth/Microsoft, via Associated Press)
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