When will the Dow Jones soap opera end?

Can the soap opera around Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) get any weirder?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that board member Leslie Hill is pushing the media company to find someone -- anyone really --- to buy her family's media company besides Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS). So far the only potential buyers that have surfaced are supermarket mogul Ron Burkle and MySpace co-founder Brad Greenspan and neither has proposed an offer to top Murdoch's $60 a share bid.

Burkle is supposedly meeting with a special committee of the board today to press his case, which involves some sort of employee stock ownership plan which is how real estate tycoon Sam Zell is funding his acquisition of Tribune Co. (NYSE: TRB). The supermarket magnet, who also tried to buy Tribune, has the backing of Dow Jones' main union, which has argued that a sale to Murdoch would be a calamity.

The Greenspan offer for part of the company is a non-starter. The Journal is reporting that he wants to buy half of New York-based Dow Jones. It remains unclear which half Greenspan would buy and how this would benefit the company other than to keep it out of the hands of Murdoch.

This whole process, including the discussion about creating a committee to protect the Journal's editorial independence, underscores how desperate the Bancrofts are to protect their family's reputation. Though their concerns about Murdoch are justified, I find their sanctimoniousness hard to swallow.

Ever since Murdoch made his unsolicited bid for Dow Jones, the Bancrofts have shown more passion for their family business than they have in years. Pity it's too little too late.

There is little doubt that the days of the Bancrofts controlling Dow Jones are coming to an end. All that's left for the family to do now is to swallow its pride and cash Murdoch's $5 billion check.

Boo freakin' hoo.