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Murdoch’s defenders say he’s a man who appreciates quality and won’t tamper with it. A former editor of London’s Sunday Times told the New York Times on May 3, “I think he’s learned quite a lot of lessons from the Times and the Sunday Times.” Murdoch bought those papers in 1981. Andrew Neil went on, “He gives his quality newspaper editors a freer hand. He’s much more hands-on with his tabloids. If you want to know what Rupert is thinking, read the [New York] Post.”
It’s not the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal that’s at risk under Murdoch. The editorial page is right-wing and often silly, its pronouncements frequently contradicted by the Journal’s own news columns. But those solidly reported news columns range widely and unpredictably: Alex Kotlowitz‘s There Are No Children Here began, I want to remind you, as a series of articles in the Journal in 1987. Before Andrew Neil or anyone else can persuade me that Murdoch would protect the paper’s restless curiosity, I need proof he even understands it.
