Murdoch snubbed
Sunday, May 6, 2007
RUPERT MURDOCH has failed to win support from Wall Street Journal reporters for his $5 billion bid for parent company Dow Jones & Co Inc.
In comments published in Friday's New York Times, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp said his family is committed to "preserving the paper's heritage". But some employees were angry over Murdoch's comments about certain aspects of the paper, including story length.
Murdoch told the Times he rarely finishes some articles because they are too long: "I'm sometimes frustrated by the long stories."
But Steven Yount, president of the union that represents many Dow Jones employees took issue with the comment. "Not everything is five paragraphs and a picture," he said. "You cannot buy The Wall Street Journal and turn it into USA Today."
A reporter who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak for the paper said requiring shorter stories would hurt the paper's reputation. "I don't think it was a wise thing to say, given that a lot of what makes this paper great are the narrative pieces that are in-depth," the reporter said.
A second reporter said the comments solidified opposition to Murdoch's bid. In the Times interview, Murdoch said he would like to see more political coverage in the news pages. "I might put more emphasis on Washington," he said.Reuters
In comments published in Friday's New York Times, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp said his family is committed to "preserving the paper's heritage". But some employees were angry over Murdoch's comments about certain aspects of the paper, including story length.
Murdoch told the Times he rarely finishes some articles because they are too long: "I'm sometimes frustrated by the long stories."
But Steven Yount, president of the union that represents many Dow Jones employees took issue with the comment. "Not everything is five paragraphs and a picture," he said. "You cannot buy The Wall Street Journal and turn it into USA Today."
A reporter who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak for the paper said requiring shorter stories would hurt the paper's reputation. "I don't think it was a wise thing to say, given that a lot of what makes this paper great are the narrative pieces that are in-depth," the reporter said.
A second reporter said the comments solidified opposition to Murdoch's bid. In the Times interview, Murdoch said he would like to see more political coverage in the news pages. "I might put more emphasis on Washington," he said.Reuters
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