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You would wonder how it was possible for one man (who isn’t a politician, criminal, or the center of a scandal) to make so many big deal headlines, if we weren’t talking about Rupert Murdoch, the man who is news. With the newspaper world still shocked that Wall Street Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli is leaving his post after less than a year, the building buzz that Murdoch might take over Newsday is almost too much to contemplate. Here’s what we’ve learned today:
• Robert Thomson, the Murdoch-appointed Journal publisher, will not take over for Brauchli as expected, though his role in the newsroom will expand. Also, it turns out that Brauchli’s departure had been discussed among News Corp. brass as many as several months ago. [WSJ]
• Brauchli’s attitude toward his role as middleman between the edit staff and the paper’s new owners had distinctly soured over that period. He went from saying things like “the editors think” to “Rupert Murdoch says.” He also felt undermined when Murdoch tried to launch a “cartoonish” London version of the Journal without any of his input. [NYO]
• Meanwhile, Murdoch has been calling around to Long Island officials saying he’s closing the deal on Newsday. He’s also called Governor David Paterson. [Newsday]
• Which was “shocking” news for Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman, who sources say is still planning a counter offer. Additionally, Jared Kushner hopes to meet with Cablevision execs (they’ve already dropped out of bidding) to see if he can lure them back to the table with a joint offer. [NYT]
• But the FCC might throw cold water over all of these plans. It’s still reviewing the waivers News Corp. has applied for to allow the company to run two newspapers (the Post and the Journal) and two television (WNYW and WWOR) stations in New York. The likelihood of getting yet another waiver past the commission may be slim. [NYT]
