Americans need to get on the ball and protect their ‘institutions’ from scavengers in any and every form. Murdoch is a scavenger. He’s as much a newspaperman as Mr. Bush, Jr. is a president of quality. If Murdoch’s efforts reach fruition, I suggest we who can ‘READ’ switch to Barrons!
The WSJ will become birdcage liner as the SMART reporters for it will leave for venues where others can read…

I guess the antitrust laws are as meaningless as every other law under Gonzo & Bu$h. Robber barons move over, Rupert’s taking over.

Rupert Murdoch will retain the integrity of the Wall Street Jounal and George Bush will read a book without pictures.

After reading the analysis of the negotiated editorial independence pact between News Corp. and the Wall Street Journal, one simple statement in the pact cuts to the chase: “News Corp’s decision over budgets would be final.”  Nothing else in the analysis that I read really matters very much.

I must admit that my experience is in academia, where professors and administrators have tenure and there is a strong tradition of free speech, independence, and scientific research.  Despite tenure and tradition, however, faculty independence is being systematically eroded.  For example, at my university, more and more faculty positions are directly linked to outside funding, professors’ performance reviews increasingly emphasize efforts to obtain outside grants and funding, and administrators have greatly expanded their power to arbitrarily allocate funds within the university.  Studies that have systematically examined the links between outside funding and research conclusions show that the push to sell research to outside groups indeed seriously biases research in favor of what the funders’ interests (duh!).  And no serious person would argue that administrators’ power over the purse does not influence what is taught in the classroom.  Tenure has not protected anyone from biases in promotion, salaries, and the sharing of teaching loads, all of which have become very political at my university.
 
If we can see the degree to which administrative control of budgets and the increased emphasis on wooing outside funders has biased research in even our “protected” academic environment, there is no doubt that abstract rules and lofty principles will fail to stop News Corp. from influencing the Wall Street Journal’s editorial content in what is effectively a commercial enterprise.  The only way to protect the Wall Street Journal’s independence is to keep it independent!  Perhaps the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal should finally admit that there really are very good reasons for anti-trust laws.

Remember the demand Moses made to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh, let my people go!”

I will make this request; My people, let this Pharaoh go! Yet, we focus on death and destruction, violence and copruption. What have we bought into? What will it cost to buy us out?

We don’t need more fake news. We don’t need more lying news crews.

My people, let this Pharaoh go!