MediaFile

New York Times columnist Joe Nocera denies ever having applied for a new gig at The Wall Street Journal, which is soon to be owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The response comes after the Talking Biz News blog reported that his not-too-flattering take on Murdoch’s Fox Business Network over the weekend was fueled in part by trying — and failing — to get a job at the Journal. The report, by Talking Biz News proprietor and University of North Carolina business journalism professor Chris Roush, cited an unnamed News Corp source.

Talking Biz News retracted its original post, saying the information was false .

In Nocera’s words:

1. I am not angling for a job at the Wall Street Journal. I had a cup of coffee with Marcus Brauchli, at his request, and told him what I tell everybody: I really like my job, and it would take one hell of an offer to pry me from The New York Times.
2. I actually like writing for the Saturday paper, which I also tell people. It is the perfect day for the kind of column I write. So I am not “angling for better real estate.”
3. My motives in writing about Fox Business News were quite simple: I was interested in trying to figure out what the new Fox network was all about, and sheer curiosity led me to write that column. I also think that the column was not particularly tough, much less “poison”–I questioned its current business strategy, and said I fully expected Fox to figure out a strategy that would work better against CNBC.
4. I was stunned to discover this item after it was posted, and to realize that you had not bothered to call me about any of this before publishing. One would think that if you are going to disparage someone’s motives and career like this, you would at least have the courtesy to get my response to your allegations. When we spoke on the phone just now, you claimed that blogging is somehow different, and that standards of journalism and fair play don’t apply. I would be curious to know if that is what you teach your students.

Roush was not immediately available for comment. Nocera says in an e-mail he sticks by his comments and had nothing more to add.

Roush sent us his response to Nocera on Wednesday morning:

Please understand that the blog is something that I do in my spare time – in between classes and grading papers and taking care of my kids. In the past, I have posted items on the blog, and then gotten a response from the person involved later and updated the item. The firing of a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter earlier this year is an example. I updated it after I talked to the Enquirer biz editor and got her point of view.

What happened today was that I posted that item right before going to class after talking to someone at News Corp. that in the past has been a reliable source. I had just gotten out of class when I got your phone call. I was planning on calling you when I got a chance.

What I was trying to convey to you is that there are plenty of blogs out there that post rumor, innuendo and what they hear because that’s what they are – the buzz. I consider journalism to be different than blogging in that respect. I think blogging is a new frontier in mass communication, and we’re all learning as we go.

I am not excusing or trying to explain away what happened today. It taught me to be more distrustful of certain sources, and I think the blog in the future is going to steer away from such material.

(Photo: NYT.com)