Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Grey Lady's Murdoch Envy

Interesting exchange on Kudlow & Company last night with Ken Chandler, a former top editor with three decades worth of experience at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

KUDLOW: What's The New York Times doing? Hit job [on Mr. Murdoch] every day this week. I'm getting bored. I assume the Times is, too. Is this about Murdoch envy?

Mr.CHANDLER: Well, I would say, personally, don't you find it an extraordinary coincidence that they would choose this week of all weeks to unload these pieces on Murdoch?

KUDLOW: What a coincidence.

Mr. CHANDLER: What a terrible coincidence! And, you know, this is agenda-driven journalism at its worst. If Murdoch did something like this there would be an absolute uproar. But the Times does it, nobody says a word about it. And the reason they're doing it, of course, is that they are absolutely terrified.

KUDLOW: Quaking in their boots, knees are knocking.

Mr. CHANDLER: Quaking in their boots at the prospect of Murdoch owning The Wall Street Journal . Because they know that if Murdoch owns The Wall Street Journal, he is going to come after them. You know, right now they have the national marketplace to themselves, but Murdoch is going to do to The New York Times what he did to CNN when he launched the Fox News Channel.