Time snags exclusive with Murdoch
Don Day June 29th, 2007
If you haven’t read Time Magazine’s in-depth story on (and interview with) Rupert Murdoch yet - it’s a must read. The story covers a lot of ground, from Dow Jones to MySpace. The story also susses out a key detail - one that might be helping drive all the concern over News Corp’s bid for the Wall Street Journal:
In 1976 he bought the failing, family-owned liberal New York Post and solemnly pledged to “maintain its present policies and traditions.” Then he yanked it hard right and down-market.
1 Comment Add your own
1. Steve Boriss | June 30th, 2007 at 5:06 am
True, but I think that excerpt is inconsistent with other material in that excellent article. The impression I got we that Murdoch has made a career out of respecting and appealing to market segments, like downscale tabloid readers (e.g. The Sun) and under-served communities (e.g. Fox News for conservatives). This would suggest he would ride the WSJ to wherever he thinks the best fit with the marketplace is. Actually, the NY Post was not the elite, upscale paper in NYC when he bought it, so you can surmise that he simply guided it toward a solid audience. I wrote a post about this issue this week (Steve Boriss, TheFutureOfNews.com)
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