At Awards Ceremony, Murdoch Jokes About Journal

The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, last night gave a public hint of his confidence in his bid for the Wall Street Journal in the form of a joke he didn't finish in accepting the Manhattan Institute's Alexander Hamilton Award. "There were these two rich guys who walked into the Wall Street Journal. Well, I think I've forgotten the rest, but I believe it had a good ending," Mr. Murdoch said. But he expressed caution about the future of New York. "I think storm clouds threaten," he said, citing New York's high tax burden, "wildly out of line" health care spending, and high education spending without producing appreciably better-educated students than in other states. More people have moved out of New York since 2000 than any other state other than Louisiana, he said. "It is time to save the state from its own foolishness," he said. Mayor Koch was also honored at the ceremony.