Dow Jones’ Bancroft Family and Murdoch Meet

NEW YORK, June 5: In the
first meeting between the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones & Co.,
owner of The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, one of the main topics was News Corporation's
relationship with the Chinese government, and James
Murdoch gave a presentation about News Corp.’s business activities in
China, and attempted to show that the company did not cave in to China's media
censorship.

James Murdoch is currently
the CEO of BSkyB in the U.K., and was previously chief executive of STAR, News
Corp.’s pay-TV platform in Asia.

The other main topic
during the meeting was protecting the editorial independence of The Wall
Street Journal. The Bancroft
family is reportedly asking for a board of independent overseers with the power
to hire and fire top editors, a proposal Rupert Murdoch will not accept.

Both sides told the press
they thought the meeting was constructive and are expected to meet again in the
next few days, although no specific date was set.

In April, Murdoch made an
offer for Dow Jones & Co. of $60 a share or about $5 billion. The
Bancrofts, who control 64 percent of the voting rights of Dow Jones, had
initially rebuffed the offer and were not interested in meeting with Murdoch.