DJ newscaster: Don't sell my company to Murdoch *

WSJ Radio Network newscaster Steve Yount explains why a sale to News Corp is not just bad for journalism, bad for readers, bad for advertisers, it's also bad for long-term shareholders, especially the Bancrofts.

Of course, there's more at stake than the personal fortunes of the Murdoch family and the Bancroft family, which for a century has controlled Dow Jones. I'm a newscaster for the Wall Street Journal Radio Network and the president of the union local that represents 2,000 Dow Jones employees, including its rank-and-file journalists throughout North America. I believe our members' interests are best served by adherence to the principle of editorial independence within a company whose only mission is reporting the news. As journalists and union members we see no upside in reducing Dow Jones to a tiny appendage of a global conglomerate with financial, political and regulatory interests alien to what we do.

[snip]

In promoting the Wall Street Journal and its other publications, Dow Jones tells readers they can rely on the expertise of reporters and editors who know business better than anybody. So when we say the takeover of Dow Jones is a bum deal, one being rushed to signature for all the wrong reasons, we hope our most faithful readers, the Bancrofts, will listen.

* FROM REUTERS @ 1:20pm EDT: Bancrofts to make an announcement today on Murdoch offer. "There will be a short announcement later today," Michael Elefante told Reuters.
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