Murdoch's steward picked for key Dow Jones role
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By Paul ThomaschNEW YORK (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch is already putting his stamp on Dow Jones & Co and the Wall Street Journal, naming his loyal stewards to manage them even before he owns them.Key on the list is Times of London editor Robert Thomson, handpicked to take over as publisher of Dow Jones and the Journal after News Corp shareholders vote on the $5.6 billion deal next Thursday.Thomson, 46, is known to be a close adviser to Murdoch and in recent months was a vocal defender of his journalistic policies when they came under fire in negotiations with Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family.Another Murdoch loyalist, Les Hinton, the current executive chairman on News Corp's News International division, will replace Rich Zannino as Dow Jones chief executive. Dow also announced that Joseph Stern is leaving after serving as its general counsel and a director."Murdoch is moving rapidly to put his stamp on the organization, really even before he officially owns it," said Louis Ureneck, journalism department chairman at Boston University. "The chatter is he's already making changes among his editors and reshaping the news staff as well."Thomson, who previously worked at Pearson's Financial Times where he oversaw a major U.S. expansion, will oversee the Journal's managing editor and editorial page editor, as well as the editors of Dow Jones Newswires, Barron's business weekly and MarketWatch.com.His job expands on the role currently held by Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, whose resignation was announced on Friday. Crovitz will remain a columnist for the newspaper.How the Journal will look under Murdoch has been one of the central and tantalizing questions in News Corp's takeover. Murdoch has promised to allow the newspaper its independence, but there are those who expect the daily to become a breezier, less serious read.Newspaper analysts said the change could prod some veteran Journal reporters to consider leaving the newspaper, as Murdoch makes clear who is in charge."With this recent set of moves I think we will see more rigorous recruiting of Journal's top talent ... they are going to feel much less secure and stable that the Journal will stay the same credible, trustworthy (newspaper)," said industry analyst Ken Doctor of Outsell Inc.RUNNING WHAT HE OWNSNews Corp also said on Friday that Murdoch's younger son James would return to head its Asian and European operations.James Murdoch is now positioned to eventually take over News Corp from his father, a move that underscored the broader changes taking place in a media empire encompassing newspapers, film studios, satellite TV services and Internet sites."For all the debate over most of the last year over what would Rupert do, it's fairly obvious to anyone from his history that he likes to run what he owns," said Doctor."It's ironic that it's really the team of Zannino and Crovitz ... that built the current Dow Jones to the point that it was ripe for the kind of offer Murdoch produced," he added.As CEO since 2006, Zannino guided the publisher through declining readership and advertising in the newspaper industry before finally playing a central role in assembling the News Corp deal. Zannino has said he would like to return to the corporate world.Crovitz declined to comment on whether he has spoken with Thomson recently or was offered other jobs within Dow Jones."In terms of what I'm looking to do next, I'm looking for the right fit and I look forward to seeing what that is," Crovitz said in an interview.Thomson, who will be succeeded at the Times of London by business and city editor James Harding, was not available for comment.(Additional reporting by Michele Gershberg, Robert MacMillan and Kenneth Li; Editing by Gary Hill)
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