There's nothing unique in the acquisition of Dow Jones by News Corp. being subjected to scrutiny. Any deal valued at over $60 million is automatically placed on a 30-day review by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department as a matter of law. Once a formal agreement is in place, the two companies are required to notify the two departments officially.
In this particular deal, the Justice Department will probably be the one that reviews the case, as it's usually the agency that gets involved with media transactions.
Seizing upon that reality, some are trying to make it look like antitrust issues are at stake in the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) by News Corp. (NWS-A), when it's simply a part of the process.
Former Justice Department antitrust official, Robert Litan, says the deal could be approved in under 30 days, because there really aren't any antitrust issues at stake.
With Murdoch building his empire worldwide, it doesn't have much concentration in any one area or one product, basically avoiding antitrust problems.
While lawyers also say it shouldn't have any problems with the FCC either, it's interesting to see what Democrat commissoner Michael Copps says: "This deal means more media consolidation and fewer independent voices, and it specifically impacts the local market in New York City. What's good for shareholders of huge media conglomerates isn't always what's good for the public interest or our civic dialogue."
His statement underscores two of the things I said this battle for Dow Jones was about from the beginning: competition with the New York Times (NYT) and what Copps is calling dialogue.
The first is now the Times will have a competitor that very likely will grow increasingly stronger financially, and become more important worldwide. The second is connnected to it and even more important, and that is dialogue or deciding what news is going to be covered.
The decision of what news is going to be covered is really the bottom line of the opposition against the deal. Now that it's passed the first step, we'll see a growing concert of people raging on about Murdoch using the "The Wall Street Journal" especially for his personal persuasions. Oh, you mean like the New York Times has been doing for decades?
The Times is starting to feel the heat financially and in influence; they've been fading for quite awhile now. The truth is, whether Murdoch got Dow Jones or not, this would have continued on. What this does is simply make the process go faster.
There's no antitrust here, it would have to be manufactured to make it exist. All there is now is a new competitor in deciding what stories to cover and how. That's what's got the liberal New York Times and its list of allies worried.
Related Coverage:
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
Bancrofts Meeting Monday to Discuss Selling Dow Jones Co.
Dow Jones Negotiations Winding Down: Tentative Agreement to be Presented to Bancroft Family
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» Murdoch and Ailes and Giuliani Oh My: New York Times Panicking at Dow Jones Acquisition from ManagersRealm
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Deal The depth of the panic of the New York Times (NYT) over the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) and its accompanying Wall Street Journal by Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. (NWS-A) is... [Read More]
Tracked on: August 1, 2007 11:19 PM | Permalink to Trackback