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Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Story

One of the major things the process of the acquisition of Dow Jones and Co. (DJ) by News Corp. (NWS-A) underscored was news - in whatever form it's presented -is a business. Even journalists for the Wall Street Journal seem to have forgotten that.

In the "perspective" section of The Statemen, one writer referred to the rant Donald Graham of the Washington Post wrote in an April op-ed piece saying the "single-minded focus on maximising profits will kill journalism." When you consider Graham is in business himself, it an amazing comment to make.

People in the editorial departments of media companies have almost brought it to a religious status and fervor, as they almost consider their "calling" to be holy in their own minds. This way of thinking has actually devastated the industry, rather than helped it.

What many media owners have done is looked with glossy eyes on the hallowed "editorial department" which has caused their businesses to decline all around them. They forgot that in the end, it's still simply a business.

The only reason some of the highly regarded newspapers have survived is because they were owned by wealthy families that basically underwrote the costs. They're finding out they can't continue on running the business like it isn't a business, as the buyout of Dow Jones has revealed.

The Wall Street Journal's own Cynthia Crossen said concerning the the many newspapers owned by families thinking if they would only stick together they "would be invulnerable to hostile suitors,"  and that the arrangements “buffered the company from corporate raiders, but also gave its managers and directors a false sense of security."

The tool that gave them this idea was the two-tier stock structure that enabled them to control the company while owning less of the stock. Murdoch's takeover of Dow Jones shows even this can't stop the inevitable.

What the industry has forgotten is it's a business. Many of the journalists, especially in the business and finance sector, have also forgetten is it's a business. They think the editorial section is what's important in the religious way I mentioned earlier. That distorts the reality they exist in.

For Dow Jones and others, they need to find journalists that know the industry they serve. People are looking for quality information they can base their decisions on, not the latest rant by someone that doesn't know how to write about anything else.

What the industry is finding out is if journalism isn't a business, very soon there won't be journalism. The artificial hold of family-owned, deep-pocketed newspapers and media outlets has made the industry think it's immune to market forces, they're finding out that was a fallacy.

"As even the Journal’s editorial page acknowledged: 'Business success is vital to editorial independence.'” In the end that's what it's all about.

Related Coverage:

News Corp. Acquisition of Dow Jones Already Changing the Rules

Murdoch and Ailes and Giuliani Oh My: New York Times Panicking at Dow Jones Acquisition

Foes of Dow Jones' Deal bring up Antitrust as an Issue

Wall Street Journal Editorial Pages Support Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch Says He's About Ready to Walk Away from Dow Jones Deal

Bancrofts in Denver Trust Want More Money: Ready to Vote Against Murdoch if Price not Raised

Brad Greenspan Makes Yet Another Proposal to Dow Jones

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