How The Journal Covers The Journal

File under meta: Discussing the ins and outs of how the Wall Street Journal reports on stories that involve the Wall Street Journal. Apparently, it all comes down to a mix of high-minded neutrality tempered by self-censorship and the fact that there’s little incentive for reports “to dig up dirt on their own employers.” Slate’s Michelle Tsai covered the WSJ‘s coverage of the WSJ pretty succinctly:

At the Journal, editors with knowledge of the original acquisition bid from Rupert Murdoch chose not to pursue the story for two weeks in April. It was only after CNBC broke the news that the Journal acknowledged its closely held secret. The paper has since tried to make up for violating a cardinal rule of journalism—mixing business with editorial—by breaking stories about the deal.

As for the breaking stories part of that equation, the Journal mentioned that Brad Greenspan and Ron Burkle met with Dow Jones’ board yesterday in a last ditch effort to prevent Murdoch’s bid for the paper.

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