Reporters who cover the story of News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion bid to buy Dow Jones tend to refer to the family that controls the company as “The Bancrofts.” But not all of them are named “Bancroft,” nor do the some three-dozen named members of the family share the same views on Murdoch’s offer. In fact, it can seem like herding cats.
That makes it somewhat difficult for the family’s advisers to come up with a plan they can all agree will preserve the editorial independence of Dow Jones’s news operations should Murdoch buy it. That was the bottom line of a story in Friday’s New York Times, which said the family had rejected the latest proposal.
Roy Winnick, a spokesman for the trustees who supervise the Bancrofts’ shares, released a statement to us and the Times, and then issued a revised statement on Friday. It seeks to find a balance between the family’s desire for independent journalism as well as Murdoch’s rights as an owner should he buy Dow Jones:
“Reflecting the continuing and extensive dialogue between and among the Bancroft family members and their advisers, the draft proposal as it currently stands continues to evolve from the draft proposal as it stood earlier this week.
No proposal will be sent to News Corp., however, until it has achieved consensus among the family members and their advisers.
Whatever the details of the proposal as finalized and sent to News Corp., its purpose will be the same, namely, to preserve and protect the editorial independence and integrity of the Journal and its sister Dow Jones publications while respecting the legitimate business interests of the owner.
Winnick also released a statement that took issue with the Times’s use of the word “rejection.” Here it is:
“[T]he Timess characterization of the familys position as a “rejection” of the advisers proposed plan is in my view a gross mischaracterization of the process currently under way. The Bancroft familys advisers and the family members are working together, and working in a very thoughtful and deliberate way, to develop a proposed structure that would, if implemented, achieve the familys overarching objective of preserving the editorial independence and integrity of the Journal and its sister publications over the long term. The result of this process will be a proposed structure that the family and its advisers can both wholeheartedly embrace and recommend.”
Trackback
