Rupert Murdoch: “Marketing genius.” At least that’s what Jon Friedman thinks of his dizzying, roundly rejected $5 billion bid for the Wall Street Journal:

Say what you will about News Corp.’s news properties. Perhaps you fret that Fox News has a bias to the Republicans, or that the New York Post is too sensationalist for your central nervous system. Me? I think company chief Rupert Murdoch is a marketing genius. With the news Tuesday of a dramatic, unsolicited bid to acquire Dow Jones & Co. for $60 a share, Murdoch has created a tremendous amount of excitement. Since brand awareness means everything these days in the media, News Corp.’s coming business channel just got a supersonic promotional push. It’s slated to appear in the fall.

Murdoch may be a marketing genius, but marketing geniuses don’t float $5 billion takeover bids to get buzz for unlaunched television stations. Had Rupe’s bid not been rejected, it would’ve been one of the most expensive ads in the history of marketing.

Meanwhile, we’ll be watching this stock closely:

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