The News Corporation may be willing to accede to new editorial independence measures in order to buy the Dow Jones publishing company, according to a report.
An article in the Wall Street Journal, the flagship title published by Dow Jones, made the claim yesterday - citing sources close to the company which forms part of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire.
But despite rumours that the media mogul may be willing to make concessions, Mr Murdoch told the journal on Friday that he wouldn't be willing to give editorial rights to the family that owns a controlling stake in Dow Jones as part of any takeover deal.
Reports have suggested that the Bancroft family, which owns 64 per cent of Dow Jones' voting rights, may ask News Corp to allow them to oversee a newly created editorial-oversight board to maintain the integrity of the publishing company's titles if a takeover deal is reached between the two media groups.
A representative for the family announced last week that the Bancrofts were willing to consider selling New York-based Dow Jones to News Corp, which announced on May 1st that it had made a "friendly offer" of $60 (£30) per share for the publishing firm.
News Corp is set to meet several members of the Bancroft family to discuss the $5 billion (£2.5 billion) bid today.
At issue is the editorial independence of the Wall Street journal and other titles, which the Bancroft family and Dow Jones journalists reportedly fear could be undermined if the company is taken over by Mr Murdoch's vast media conglomerate.
However in an interview with the journal, the News Corp owner stressed that any new editorial board created to protect the independence of Dow Jones' publications should be comprised of "people with absolutely no business connections to me nor the family".
"I can't put down $5 billion of my shareholders' money and not be able to run the business," said Mr Murdoch, who added that he had "no plans to change anything" on the editorial or news sides of the Wall Street Journal if a takeover deal was agreed.
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