Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal

From the New York Times:

"For employees at Dow Jones, the 11 weeks since they learned of the Murdoch offer have been a wrenching time, raising the prospect of fundamental changes at an organization that had already had its fill of big changes in the last couple of years — with Mr. Kann being replaced by Richard F. Zannino as chief executive, with Marcus W. Brauchli taking over from Paul E. Steiger as top editor; and with a shift of its mission, by adding a Saturday paper and more lifestyle articles to appeal to new advertisers, and investing heavily in its digital properties.

So a possible takeover by the News Corporation — the deal is now in the hands of the Bancroft family after the offer received board approval — has placed an unusual strain on the company and its employees. Tensions have risen between The Journal’s newsroom and management, particularly Mr. Zannino, a nonjournalist who had spent much of his career in the garment industry.

Journalists are also facing two futures they never expected when they signed on to jobs they saw more as a mission, not a business — the uncertainty of what Mr. Murdoch would do as an owner, or the uncertainty of a suddenly harsh advertising climate that could lead to deep job cuts."

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