Mugger: Rupe Therapy
Its no surprise that Mark Bowdens article, Mr. Murdoch Goes to War, in the July/August issue of The Atlantic was catnip for mainstream journalists across the country. Who better to take on Rupert Murdoch than the respected, prize-winning 56-year-old Bowden, whose career as a newspaperman and author (Black Hawk Down) is beyond reproach? Armed with quotes from such sainted figures as Gene Robertsthe writers onetime boss at the Philadelphia Inquirer in the fat years of upscale dailiesBowden makes clear that the global-media buccaneer, who has made the audacious (to some) boast that he intends his new acquisition, The Wall Street Journal, to compete with the New York Times for national domination, is no sure bet to succeed.
Roberts tells his onetime star investigative reporter: Murdoch says he wants to turn [the Journal] into something more like the New York Times, but I suspect it will end up looking more like USA Today. Its a quaint observation from the septuagenarian Roberts, sure to get a snort from his cohorts in the incestuous elite media world, but it reminds me more of the widespread dismissal of Matt Drudge just a decade ago as nothing more than an Internet gossip. The plain fact is that men like Bowden and Roberts have already lost their war; the days of expensive foreign bureaus scattered across the globe, the freedom for reporters to work for months on one in-depth investigative series, the perks and salaries made possible by double-digit profit marginsall thats gone and will likely never return. Its like baseball purists complaining about the designated hitter rule in the American League or the bling that players flaunt on the field; no matter how loud the moans and high-handed criticism, the world has passed them by.
Whats even more curious to me is that Bowden spends his lengthy article exclusively on Murdoch, who at 77 is still vigorous and lives the life of a young man with a (third) wife almost four decades his junior; but despite possible protestations from the tabloid pirate, he wont live forever. In fact, what Bowden and almost everyone else whos written about Murdochs News Corp. buying Dow Jones Co. last year has neglected to put into proper perspective is this: Its James Murdoch, now 35 and his fathers putative heir, who will have far more influence on the future direction of not only The Wall Street Journal but also all of the News Corp. properties. Bowdens myopic take on Murdoch is at first blush rather astonishing, for hes a man of keen intelligence and industrious at his craft; but I imagine hes stuck in the media bubble of the moment, and hes unable to imagine an ungrateful industry that doesnt necessarily value men and women of his accomplishments.
People, by nature, dont like change. My oldest brother, for example, complained bitterly when the Journal embraced modern times and started publishing in more than one compact section. Three months later, he was used to the new WSJ, although still hadnt quite figured out how to juggle the paper on his train commute. Today, the buzz says that the papers a-hed storiesthe eclectic and non-timely pieces that traditionally occupied a cherished spot in the middle of the front pagewill be jettisoned for more topical news. Bowden writes, The a-hed seems to sink lower and lower on the front page every day, like a setting sun.
I like those stories too: a story by Jeanne Whalen and Isabella Lisk on June 17, datelined Orsett, England, was a wonderful curio. The headline is superb (Alien Invasion: High-School Prom Lands in England, Causes a Bother), as is the story itself. The duo writes: Britain, the land of school uniforms, rigorous exams and ivy-covered school halls, is embracing an American invasion: the high-school prom.
And who says the influence of United States has waned under the Bush administration?
Over at the Times, Barry Gewen, one of the editors of the papers Sunday book review section, took solace in Bowdens Atlantic essay, writing gleefully in the Times Paper Cuts blog that Murdochs war against his paper wont be an easy one to win. [Murdoch] faces a classic business-school conundrum, one that may be studied at Wharton and on the banks of the Charles River for years to come. Claiming, with faint hope I think, that Murdoch runs the risk of alienating the Journals core readership by competing with the Times by adding more political news, sports and lifestyle stories, Gewen compares it to a soda war. But think of what happened when Coca-Cola tried to move into Pepsis niche with a sweeter concoction called New Coke: if faced a consumer revolt and was forced to retreat just to hold on to what it already had.
But the conundrum is not at all analogous. Coke was tinkering, trying to expand its market share: The Journal and Times are fighting for their very survival as both companies attempt to successfully forge a profitable transformation to the Internet. It would seem, given News Corp.s far more varied media portfolioincluding newspapers, MySpace, cable television, 20th Century Fox, BSkyB and HarperCollins, to name just a few leadersis far more equipped to wage a battle for global supremacy over the Times Co., which presently is saddled with the shrinking Boston Globe and, more importantly, growing dissent among its shareholders about the shaky leadership of the Sulzberger family. What may be studied at Wharton and [puke alert] on the banks of the Charles River is how an outsider, say George Soros or Michael Bloomberg, came to own what was once the most prestigious newspaper company in American history.
Bowden and his peers, set in their ways, dont seem to comprehend that the communications business they knew is changing rapidly while they kvetch about the disappearance of long-form and allegedly objective journalism. As for alienating the Journals core audience, thats old news too: for example, I still subscribe to that daily (and the Times as well), but I read most of it online. I dont care if the a-hed is on the front page anymore; I dont riffle through the first section on Wednesday to read Holman Jenkins business column or the new political column by Thomas Frank; and it certainly doesnt bother me that the Journal has an advertisement on its front page.
The real question in the war between the Times Co. and Dow Jones is which entity is better equipped in the next decade to both make money and publish, in whatever form, a quality product. My money is on the Murdoch family.