Correspondents from the Wall Street Journal's Beijing bureau who this year won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting have urged Dow Jones to reject a takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch over concerns he will meddle in the paper's China coverage.
Correspondent Mei Fong (方鳳美) said yesterdaythat she and six of her colleagues had written a letter to the board of Dow Jones & Co saying they fear that under Murdoch's leadership writers would be pressured to soften their reporting on China.
The May 10 letter pointed to a series of articles on the adverse effects on China's booming economy, which earned the China bureau the Pulitzer.
Journal reporters were worried that such hard-hitting reports might not be possible if Murdoch's media conglomerate, News Corp, were to take charge of the paper, it said.
"Many of those stories shed an unflattering light on the [Chinese] government and business interests," said the letter, which has been widely circulated on media Web sites.
Such reporting "is an important example of the coverage that we fear would suffer if News Corp takes control," it said.
The letter says Murdoch "has a well-documented history of making editorial decisions in order to advance his business interests in China and, indeed, of sacrificing journalistic integrity to satisfy personal or political aims."
Fong said the letter was also meant to thank the Bancroft family, Dow Jones' controlling shareholders, for initially rejecting Murdoch's offer of US$60 a share, a premium of more than 65 percent over Dow Jones' share price before the bid became public.
"It's a lot of money to be turning down for principle," she said.
Journal writer Ian Johnson has also voiced opposition to the bid, separately issuing a public commentary via the Internet on May 11.
Johnson, who is currently on a fellowship at Harvard University, earned a Pulitzer in 2001 for his China coverage.
He called Murdoch "an archetypical pro-Beijing businessman" who "doesn't separate his business interests from his newsgathering operations."
Murdoch, in a letter to the Bancroft family dated May 11, has promised to set up an independent editorial board for the Journal as he did with the Times of London.
Murdoch wrote in the letter that his News Corp would be "an ideal partner for Dow Jones," and that his group "would be dedicated to building upon the more than 100-year heritage of your great company."
In an effort to overcome concerns about maintaining journalistic integrity, Murdoch said he would "establish an independent, autonomous editorial board exactly along the lines of what was established at the Times of London."
This board would ensure that both the editor and managing editor of the Journal "would not be appointed or dismissed without the approval of the majority of the directors of the board; and ensure that any dispute between management and editors is properly arbitrated by the board," he said.
Murdoch's letter said he would include a Bancroft family member on the board to "help alleviate any concerns about maintaining journalistic integrity and ensure good communication between the family and News Corporation going forward."
Since News Corp's bid became public on May 1, Dow Jones' share price jumped to approach Murdoch's offer price. On Monday, the shares rose 67 cents, or 1.3 percent, to US$53.77.
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