Shakeup

Rupert Murdoch appears to be a step closer to acquiring The Wall Street Journal, a move that would set  off what promises to be culture shock at the venerable financial news institution. The Journal's parent, Dow Jones & Co., and Murdoch's News Corp. have agreed in principle on a set of editorial protections for The Wall Street Journal, according to a report on WSJ.com. Protecting the editorial integrity of The Wall Street Journal has been a key sticking point with Dow Jones's controlling family, the Bancrofts. It remains to be seen whether the family will accept the terms of the editorial  agreement, which have not yet been disclosed by either company.

Media circles have been abuzz with speculation that Dow Jones and News Corp. could reach an agreement on Mur­doch's proposed $60-a-share, or $5 billion, acquisition of Dow Jones within days. A deal for the Journal would mark the end of more than 100 years of control by the heirs of Clarence Barron, credited as the father of modern financial journalism. But the ultimate outcome—despite a sense of inevitability now surrounding the proposed transaction—is still uncertain. With control of 64 percent of the company's shares, the Bancrofts alone can decide the fate of Dow Jones. And the family—or at least, a formidable contingent—remains ­ anxious about Murdoch's reputation for interfering in the editorial decisions of his media outlets, mostly as a way of promoting his business and political interests.

But the family is hardly the only quarter where there's concern. Another significant shareholder, James Ottaway, has been especially vocal in his opposition to a Murdoch acquisition and is expected to cast his 5 percent vote against a transaction. And the Journal's rank and file is making its doubts abundantly clear: at an annual awards dinner for financial journalists in New York on Monday, a number of Wall Street Journal winners took to the stage and in almost funereal tones alluded to what life would be like under Murdoch. (The union representing Journal reporters had tried to bring in a white-knight buyer to rescue the Journal from Murdoch, but to no avail.)

Murdoch and his lieutenants have recoiled at the negative characterization of their editorial practices. In recent weeks, he has used press interviews to explain, dismiss or defend past actions often cited as evidence of his  self-interested interference in editorial matters at his publishing operations.

Murdoch's most important effect on the Journal's enviable journalistic culture probably has little to do with the possiblity of his ordering up a story that's, say, friendly to the Chinese governement. For a news organization that has been the master of its fate, with almost carte blanche independence from the Bancrofts, The Wall Street Journal would have to adapt to the aggressive business culture of perhaps the most engaged media owner and steward of his time. Murdoch has been a determined and decisive expansionist for  decades now, spreading across the globe and into every segment of the business by seizing opportunities and  using shrewd strategems. Now, as his extraordinarily lavish offer for Dow Jones indicates, he has targeted financial and business journalism with similar zealousness.

For Journal editors and writers, life under Murdoch would likely mean less control over their work. Suspicion and scrutiny is certain to follow Murduch after a purchase of the Journal. And that fact—coupled with the threat of irreparable damage to the Journal's integrity if Murdoch does cross the line—could help restrain any of the mogul's impulses for biased reporting, as much as any formal accord.