Murdoch and Dow Jones

Global media magnate Rupert Murdoch made a stunning offer on May 1 to purchase Dow Jones & Co., the parent of the Wall Street Journal, for $5 billion. Once the offer was announced, media observers across the world began debating questions such as—Will the Bancroft family, the major shareholders of the company, really give up control? What kind of owner would Murdoch be? Would the Wall Street Journal’s longstanding reputation for editorial integrity be jeopardized? This feverish speculation created a good deal of anticipation in the three months from May 1 to July 31 when the deal was finally agreed to.

We may never know what really happened behind those closed doors during the intense negotiations in the weeks leading up to Murdoch’s acquisition of Dow Jones and its flagship paper. But the following selection of articles provide a detailed account of what the media had to say about Murdoch’s takeover of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.

See also, PEJ's Backgrounder on Murdoch's American newspaper holdings, and a PEJ Numbers chart of frequently used words found in news articles about Murdoch's bid.