Journal’s health care plan coverage free of murdock's conservative bias

Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the Dow Jones Company in 2007 drew mixed emotions from supporters of the company's flagship property, the Wall Street Journal. Murdoch's investment served as a vote of confidence in the future of the newspaper business in general, and his vow to pump money into the Journal heartened those who feared the prestigious business publication would be allowed to atrophy in the age of new media.1 But with that good news came a nagging question: How would Murdoch's ownership affect the paper's political news reporting? The Journal's famously conservative editorial page appeared to fit well with Murdoch's political views. But the Journal's news reporting had always remained separate from the editorial page and had earned a stellar reputation for fairness, accuracy and high quality. Facing budget cuts, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post have turned away from national distribution and refocused on their local markets, leaving the Journal and The New York Times as the dominant national outlets for in-depth news in the United States.2 Under ownership of the Bancroftfamily, the Wall Street Journal's news editors carried out that responsibility with close adherence to the standards of modern U.S. journalism-independence, detachment and impartiality. Murdoch, on the other hand, has been accused of using the news pages of his publications to support political allies.3 News Corporation's recent phone-hacking scandal in Britain has only increased concern about its ownership of the Journal. Would Murdoch slant the paper's political news? This study explores that question by looking at how the Wall Street Journal covered one of the most divisive political stories of the past two decades: the Democratic Party's effort to overhaul the nation's health care system.Theoretical FrameworkShoemaker and Reese argue that the "ultimate power in the media organization comes from the owner."4 But they believe even the owner's ability to influence content can be mitigated by forces inside and outside the company. In their five-level hierarchy of influences on media content, ideological forces occupy the top level. These are societal norms-such as support for democracy and a market-driven economy-that serve as unstated assumptions in helping shape news media content. The second level of influences involves extramedia forces such as news sources, special interest groups, audience reaction and public relations campaigns. The third level, the organizational influences, includes ownership of the media company. The routines of mass media work and the traits of the individual media workers themselves comprise the final two levels. Shoemaker and Reese believe these levels of influence interact and often serve to constrain each other. But that interaction can vary, with some levels exerting more influence than others depending on the media outlet in question. Critics of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., for example, claim his ownership overrides all other influences in shaping political content at the company's news outlets.Murdoch's reputation for political slant developed primarily in Britain in the 1980s. After purchasing the prestigious Times of London and Sunday Times of London, Murdoch moved his newspapers from Fleet Street and managed to break the union grip on press jobs in the United Kingdom.5 At the same time, the publisher used his popular tabloid, The Sun, and the upscale Times properties to support the conservative policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Murdoch's handpicked editor at the Sunday Times of London, Andrew Neil, later wrote a memoir detailing his role in helping to frame the "populist conservatism" of Thatcher and her Tory Party. Neil called Murdoch a "political animal" who managed the news by hiring editors who shared his political worldview.6 Critics charge that in return for Murdoch's media support, Thatcher's government helped News Corp. in its battle with the unions and in its efforts to expand into the satellite television market. …