News Corp. donation raises questions
NEW YORK -- Dow Jones & Co. Inc. said Thursday it did not know that one of the people named to protect its editorial independence after it becomes part of News Corp. runs a foundation that received $2.5 million in funding from Rupert Murdoch's global media conglomerate.
News Corp. selected Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Nicholas Negroponte to be part of the five-member special committee that will oversee the editorial independence of Dow Jones's news operations, including The Wall Street Journal. The move was part of its $5.6 billion deal to buy Dow Jones.
When asked if the donation compromised Negroponte as an independent member of a group designed to safeguard Dow Jones' editorial integrity, a spokeswoman for Dow Jones said it had confidence in him.
"We are confident of the capability of the individuals to make independent decisions," said Dow Jones spokeswoman Linda Dunbar, adding that the company had not been aware of the donation.
In an interview with Reuters conducted over e-mail in May, Negroponte described Murdoch as a personal friend and a key backer of the One Laptop per Child foundation that makes inexpensive laptop computers for poor children.
News Corp. is one of 11 parties, including Google Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, that each committed to donate $2.5 million to the organization, Negroponte said in May.
News Corp.'s donation now raises issues over Negroponte's objectivity, a journalism expert said.
"If in fact Nicholas' foundation is receiving money from News Corp., that creates the perception and, quite possibly, the reality of a conflict," said Louis Ureneck, chairman of the journalism department at Boston University.
It was not immediately clear if members of Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family, who negotiated and agreed upon the structure of the independent board, were aware of the payment.
A Bancroft family representative was not immediately reachable. Some members of the family had opposed the deal out of fear that Murdoch would interfere with Dow Jones's news operations to further his business interests.
To be sure, another member of the independent committee, Thomas Bray, has ties to Dow Jones. Bray, the former Detroit News editorial page editor, has written for Dow Jones's OpinionJournal.com. The Wall Street Journal reported that he will serve as chairman of the committee.