Rupert Murdoch & Dow Jones

There is a lot of heat, and very little light being shed in the battles over the news that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will purchase the Dow Jones Company (publishers of the Wall Street Journal).  The lefty socialists in Congress are all knicker-twisted over the alleged "consolidation" of media (funny-- they didn't screen when Viacom bought CBS or Disney bought ABC).  The unions at the Journal are worried about the editorial independence.  Everyone seems to have a dog in this fight.  (Mine is the hope that Murdoch drops the stupid paywall for articles!)

But I think there is another angle to this story that no one is catching.

In October, News Corp. will launch the Fox Financial News channel.  I think it is October 15th.  This is a risky move and a huge undertaking.  CNBC really has this portion of the market cornered, even as it weathered the dotcom bubble and the Maria Bartiromo nonsense.  They are still the 800 pound gorilla, especially with Larry Kudlow and Jim Cramer.

The key to creating a worthy competitor to the CNBC legacy is content  After all, as Gordon Gecko taught us, business is about information.  Who has it, who controls it, and what you do with it.  If you don't believe that, then explain why the penalties for insider trading are so great.

The problem is that except for Neil Cavuto, Fox is a little light in the business chops.  Oh sure, they have Cashin' In, The Cost of War, and Forbes on Fox, but these are really talking head chatty-kathy shows, and not serious business news shows.  Great for the soccer mom investment clubs, but not great shows in terms of looking at broad business trends that drive the country.

Now, who does this type of reporting better than anyone? 

The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Company.  I've been reading the Wall Street Journal since I was seventeen, and aside from Bill Pump's economics class at Parkside, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, and Jude Wanniski's The Way the World Works, it has been my textbook on the economy.  I can learn more from one issue of that paper than I learned in three years at Towson State (sorry Dad-- but I should have ignored your brother and enlisted.  College was a waste of time and money.)  The Wall Street Journal (and the rest of Dow Jones) is a huge goldmine of content, information, insight, and information that Murdoch can draw against as launches Fox Financial News.

And that is what I think is the real reason for the purpose.  As much as lefties hate to admit it, Rupert Murdoch is a brilliant businessman, but he is an even more brilliant "newsman".  The NY Post would be nothing more than leftover birdcage liner but for his efforts to revive it.  In just under six years, he coldcocked three cable news networks (HNN, CNN, MSNBC) and has crippled the big three.  He pushed that loudmouth Chris Matthews out of the 8pm timeslot--which he owned, and has made Keith Olbermann a laughingstock.  The Wall Street Journal -- which has tried but failed to become a financial TV powerhouse -- will thrive with a dedicated outlet for its content.  Combined with an effective cross-marketing strategy, the WSJ could even see a increase in subscriptions as some of its great columnists and reporters can now build a larger and wider audience than they could through a "stuffy" newspaper.  Walt Mossberg -- who is one of the best technology reporters in the business (full disclosure:  Walt Mossberg interviewed this writer in 1998 on my product line that was part of the InterAct brand) -- could finally get the recognition and reach of that miserable hack John Dvorak (full disclosure:  I've been interviewed by Dvorak, too.  He was, well... ).

I think a decade from now, the WSJ will turn out to be a stronger force in news AND opinion (and I think they have one of the best, most-balanced opinion pages around).  Their crazy stand on immigration notwithstanding, the WSJ is an awesome brand and an awesome product, and I think this purchase will help make the Fox Financial News network a rousing success.

NOTE:  I do not subscribe to the WSJ anymore.  Not because I don't love the paper.  The morons that deliver the paper up here in the Gunpowder River Valley are the same morons that deliver the Calvert Street Communist Party Newsletter.  My house is 11.5 feet from the edge of the shoulder of York Road (MD 45).  Somehow, they cannot get the paper on the grass, or even the porch.  No. Everyone one of them goes in the drainage ditch.  Maybe Rupert can do something about that?  Lord, I hope so.