Whining at the WSJ

Normally liberal media snobbery is irritating (and career-threatening if you're a young conservative journalist), but not when that snobbery is completely ineffectual to stop the thing which the whiney reporters hate. Schadenfreude is the word of the day after reading this Los Angeles Times piece about how "aghast" many reporters in the Wall Street Journal newsroom are at being employed by the son of Satan himself, Rupert Murdoch:

Reporters reacted bitterly to the prospect of Murdoch's gaining control of the Journal, which has long been regarded as a beacon of financial journalism.

They voiced concern that Murdoch would diminish the paper's quality, imbue it with some of the glitzy style of his crosstown New York Post and slant the Journal's news coverage to advance his business interests.

"People are aghast that this could have happened," said one reporter, who like others spoke on condition on anonymity. "It's a sickening realization to know that this really great iconic newspaper is [not only] no longer going to be independent, but is also going to be controlled by a man whose values are inimical to ours." [...]

There you have it, folks, an admission from a left-wing reporter that he/she injects his/her political philosophy into the news.

The newsroom was particularly incensed by the detail, disclosed on the Journal's website Tuesday, that Dow Jones had agreed to pay the Bancroft family's advisory and legal fees related to the merger, which are estimated to be at least $30 million.

The journalists viewed the payment, which would ultimately be made by Murdoch's News Corp., as an improper incentive for wavering family members to support the deal.

"There's a real feeling that this place covers the worst in corporate behavior and our executives should have known better," one reporter said.

A Dow Jones spokeswoman refused to comment on the issue.

Journal reporters also voiced disappointment that Paul Steiger, the paper's longtime managing editor, did not speak out against the News Corp. bid. Steiger, an industry icon who stepped down in May to become the paper's editor-at-large, could have rallied opposition to the deal, they said.

"There's a fair amount of anger and frustration at him," one reporter said. [...]

Nevertheless, after years working their way up to a major newspaper, some Journal reporters are reassessing their careers.

"Everyone is sitting here talking about what their next career will be — not their next journalism job, their next career," said one reporter.

Think of it: Some journalists are willing to quit their entire career over the fact that their company got purchased by an evil conservative. Talk about intolerance.

Sure puts a smile on my face, though.