Try as I might, I 'm not sad that the Bancrofts may lose control of Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NYSE: NWS).
Though some journalists are arguing that a Murdoch victory would signal the end of civiilization as we know it, at least he'll take an interest in the Wall Street Journal, which is more than could be said about the Bancrofts. They watched idly as incompetent CEOs ran the publishing company into the ground and shareholders not related to them got the shaft.
Would Murdoch be that much worse? Compared with other publishing families, the Bancrofts have shown a remarkable lack of interest in their family business.
The Sulzbergers of the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) are no financial geniuses either but at least they take some responsibility for their company. Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) Chief Executive Donald Graham is smart enough to listen to the advice of board member and shareholder Warren Buffett about the company his family controls. The Scripps family has placed E.W. Scripps Co. (NYSE: SSP) with a good management team.
To call the Bancrofts absentee landlords would be kind. Their newfound interest in protecting the editorial integrity of the Journal is too little too late. Media reports indicate that they are trying to work out some sort of independent board to protect the Jounal's newsroom. This is a waste of time because it's not a question if Murdoch meddles but when and how oftten
About the smartest move the Bancrofts have done recently was to name Richard Zannino as Chief Executive. But even Zanino can't wrap Dow Jones in bubble wrap to protect it from the changing media enviornment. Media reports indicate that he is taking a neutral stance on Murdoch's $5 billion offer but I wonder if he'll stick around if the deal collapses.
Still, a Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal won't be that different from the paper my colleague Peter Cohan dubbed "The Towel." The Australian tycoon doesn't want to go down in history as the person who ruined the paper. That title rightly belongs to the Bancrofts.
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