It’s all over the media this morning, after weeks of semi-substantiated rumor. The Bancroft family has sold Dow Jones. For us news hounds, that means The Wall Street Journal is changing hands. The Journal offered an irresistible offer to college students when I was in grad school. For more than four years we’ve gotten the print edition at nearly the price of either local paper, plus the online edition free (the Journal normally charges for Web access). Daily I’ve been delighted with the depth and thoroughness of the reporting and the clarity and wit of the writing (I do walk broadly around the editorial page, but I do that with lots of papers).
Now, the venerable national newspaper will change. They say it won’t, but new owners fiddle. Why bother getting out the checkbook, otherwise? They promised to keep the news and editorial management the same, but I hear Smithers is getting them. After all these years, he deserves the authority.
For all those decades of loyalty, it’s the least Mr. Burns can do.
D’oh! -30-
