Murdoch's New Adventure

Congratulations are in order for Rupert Murdoch on the closing yesterday of News Corp.'s acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. and its flagship Wall Street Journal from the Bancroft family that had controlled it for generations. It marks the end of one distinguished era in journalism and the beginning of what we predict will be a new one. New Yorkers will be watching with interest as Mr. Murdoch and his colleagues put their mark on the newspaper that made its motto "free minds and free markets," and carried the flag of, yes, Wall Street, which is right here in New York.

He certainly has an eye for talent. In an interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News Channel, he was asked whether he'd be beefing up the Wall Street Journal with big-name hires from places like the New York Times. He replied, in part, "The New York Sun is a very obvious place where there's some very fine journalists." He noted that we're a small paper and a new one. And, we would add, a merry band of newspapermen and women who appreciate his salute and who recognize another such band of newspaper lovers and wish them all luck as they set off on their new adventure.