Murdoch Bid on Dow Jones Advances

I would expect greater foreign coverage. In the past year due to cutbacks The Wall Street Journal closed its Canadian bureaus, for example. Murdoch wants to expand the nameplate internationally (The Financial Times already does this). With India, China and Southeast Asia obviously growing economic forces, I would expect to see more Journal journalists located there and I would expect a greater attempt to provide financial coverage to readers and viewers in those regions as well. Like The Financial Times, regional editions would differ, with the most relevant local coverage more prominent. But I do think Murdoch has more money to put into coverage of those areas and he has certainly taken a global view of media in general.

Murdoch has a lot of business interests in that part of the world and it is reasonable to assume that there should be an increase in stories. Actually, as it now stands, the Journal does a magnificent job in covering Asia. A concern of China watchers, voiced quite eloquently in the Chinese news bureau's open letter to the Bancrofts, is that Murdoch's business interests would interfere, and possibly lesson, stories out of China. That bears watching.

As for the rest of the world, Murdoch says he will increase the coverage and that is good news to anyone who cares about the cutbacks other news organizations have given to the international reporting scene.

Journalists are a pretty crusty lot and there are plenty of watchdog organizations who will not be afraid to blow the whistle on conflict of interest issues involving Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal coverage.