Rupert Murdoch is trying to buy Down Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal. Now, the WSJ is pretty right wing biased to start with, but they have their own independence that would be sadly lost if Murdoch has his way, becoming another cheap rag mouthpiece of right wing extremists.

But what is interesting is there seems to be a sign that the deal is already done.

For several days now, I have seen that the WSJ in Park Slope, Brooklyn, have been delivered in bags marked "New York Post." At first I thought nothing of it, but it has been consistent for a few days at least and it is highly unusual. You don't expect New York Post to be wrapped in a bag saying "New York Times" or visa versa. Is this some kind of Murdoch pissing on the territory he wants to add to his empire of lying, ranting rags? I would love to know just how one paper winds up being delivered in a wrapper marked with the name of another paper.

On a related note, my concerns about Murdoch ruining the integrity of the Wall Street Journal with his love of lying extremists is apparantly shared by the director of Dow Jones & Co, Dieter von Holtzbrinck .

From Salon.com:

In a letter to Dow Jones' other board members, von Holtzbrinck said he was "very worried" that the company's "unique journalistic values will long-term strongly suffer after the proposed sale." Dow Jones disclosed von Holtzbrinck's departure and included a copy of his letter in a regulatory filing Thursday...

Murdoch's bid to acquire Dow Jones has met with stiff resistance in several quarters, including a union representing Journal reporters, several members of the Bancroft family, and former board member Jim Ottaway Jr., who together with his brother David control 7 percent of the company's shareholder vote...

"I cannot prove that my worries are right," von Holtzbrinck said in his letter. "I can only refer to News Corp. business practices in the past, can only refer to Jim Ottaway's article in the Journal, etc. I do not believe that the 'Special Committee' can finally prevent Murdoch from doing what he wants to do, from acting his way."

I take what I read in the WSJ with a grain of salt simply because they interpret everything from the point of view of conservative economics. I think it was in the Onion (???) that there was a joke about the world ending and the WSJ running the headline: "Stocks fall." But their bias is, in my mind, something of an honest, philisophical bias. The bias of Murdoch is far less honest. He is well known to advocate outright lying if the facts don't match his political and corporate interests. Outfoxed is a great expose on the sleazy business practices and the disregard for the truth of Rupert Murdoch. I for one would love to see a fairly reasonable conservative voice survive this onslaught by right wing extremist sleaze.