Financial analyst Edouard Morin slid from his lunch seat at the swanky Harry's Cafe around the corner from Wall Street and sized up the latest merger talk that has the business world abuzz.
"The Journal is an American icon," he said.
But this is Wall Street after all, so he added an important caveat: "Everything is for sale these days, at the right price."
Some on Wall Street said Rupert Murdoch's attempt to buy the Wall Street Journal was a bad idea, while others said it was merely capitalism -- you have to do what's best for the business.
The Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones & Co, says it is warming to the idea of selling the company, with Murdoch being the most visible suitor. His media conglomerate, News Corp, includes the New York Post, Fox News and MySpace.
The Journal, founded in 1889, has a daily circulation of about 2 million, and is one of the world's most venerable papers.
A cheeky list of who-reads-what that has made the rounds on the Internet says that the Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. And that the Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country -- as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated. But Murdoch has promised that if his company buys the Journal, he would ensure its editorial independence.
One young man looking to enter the stock market said he doesn't want Murdoch to transfer his brand of tabloid journalism to the Journal.
"I get all my financial news from the Wall Street Journal," said Rhudy Correa, 21, as he sat on the steps of the historic Federal Hall overlooking the New York Stock Exchange -- a quick lunch-hour perch of choice for many Wall Street employees.
A college student working as a summer intern with Oppenheimer Funds, Correa said he wants the Journal to stay as it is: "I wouldn't advise making changes in it -- that would be kind of touchy."
His friend, Christian Goodspeed, balanced a takeout container of Chinese food and offered his opinion of the bid between bites.
"I go to the Wall Street Journal if I need investment news," said Goodspeed, 20, an intern at another Wall Street firm, Stoever Glass & Co. "It's a cornerstone, and it can't change. I wouldn't like that."
Even if Murdoch controlled the Journal, Goodspeed predicted there wouldn't be major changes.
But at least one person on Wall Street believes the Post has something to teach the Journal.
"If Murdoch can do for the Journal what he's done for the Post, he'd be doing a great thing," said Bob Dolin, who has worked for 27 years in his family newspaper stand on Wall Street, a few steps from the exchange. "The Post has a very good variety of writers, plus sports and interesting articles. The whole format makes it very desirable."
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS