Murdoch on owning the Wall Street Journal

AP via IHT ^ | May 04, 2007 | By Richard Siklos and Andrew Ross Sorkin

[jdm]

Like any close reader of The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch has his opinions.

"I'm sometimes frustrated by the long stories," he said, adding that he rarely gets around to finishing some articles.

The editorial pages? He likes them but would like to see more political coverage in the news pages. "I might put more emphasis on Washington," he said. He's not a huge fan of the Saturday Journal begun in '05, but he would continue it and look at converting its Pursuits section into a glossy weekend magazine to compete with The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

And while he's no technology geek, he also said he regularly reads the paper's technology columnist, Walter Mossberg, although he added: "I don't say I understand it perfectly."

Most readers just write a letter to the editor. Murdoch offered $5 billion to buy The Journal's parent company, Dow Jones & Company. To do that, he must first win over the Bancroft family, which has controlled Dow Jones for the last 92 years and has so far resisted all of his overtures, in part over concerns of what he might do to The Journal.

He insists he won't meddle in the journalism or slash-and-burn the staff. "We're not coming in with a bunch of cost-cutters," he said, but added: "I'm not saying it's going to be a holiday camp for everybody."

In an interview in his eighth-floor office in Midtown New York Thursday, Murdoch, who occasionally glanced at his notes on a yellow tablet, waxed on about his plans to invest in the company's journalism, including rebranding the forthcoming Fox business channel with The Journal's name.

[snowsislander]

I hope not. I will cancel if he does take over.

The WSJ is profitable already, and it is a solid newspaper. Squeezing it in the usual Murdoch fashion might make it a bit more profitable, but it would likely be at the cost of its content.

[cloud8]

I would ditch the “Weakend” edition, the color and the edgy graphics and restore it to the glorious broadside it was four years ago.

[sportutegrl]

As a longtime WSJ subscriber, I have to say that I love the long articles. I have learned so much over the years, because of this in-depth type of coverage. You don’t have to read the whole article, you know. The Saturday Journal has articles of nationwide interest, like homes for sale, etc. I would hate to see it become NYC interest only.