Having an outside group of people hire and fire editors and set newsroom budgets, which media reports indicate that the Bancrofts want, would make managing Dow Jones a nightmare. Wouldn't Murdoch and other top executives be able to determine how much money the committee would have at its disposal? This really isn't that much of a deterrent.

I also can't see how an outside group would protect editors from being manipulated by Murdoch. Would these top newsroom executives have contracts directly with the outside directors, so technically they wouldn't work for News Corp? That just doesn't seem practical. How would personnel reviews work? Shouldn't the company that pays their salary have some input?

Moreover, if Murdoch broke his agreement, what could this outside group do about it? They couldn't undo the sale. Finding someone so rich would be a waste of time. Their only option would be to call him nasty names in the press, something which Murdoch has endured for years.

The Bancrofts will have to rely on Murdoch's word that he won't interfere with the editorial integrity of the paper,as scary as that sounds.

Though I have friends who work at the company, it's a bad idea for the Bancrofts or anyone else to pledge not to cut the newsroom. That, unfortunately, is a promise that no media company can afford to make.

There are no white knights waiting to ride to the rescue of Dow Jones because no one wants to get into a bidding war with Murdoch, who has lusted after the Journal for years. If Murdoch is successful -- and odds are he will prevail -- than the Sulzbergers will have to start looking for a sugar daddy for the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) fast.