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Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
Small Audience For Murdoch's Dow Jones Deal, Few Expect Change
A majority of Americans who are following the story of publisher Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the Wall Street Journal say the sale will have little or no impact on the quality of the newspaper, according to the latest national News Interest Index survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
About one-in-four Americans (24%) say they are following the story of Murdoch's acquisition of Dow Jones & Co, which publishes the Journal. Of those who are following the news, fully 60% believe that the change in ownership will not make much difference in the quality of the newspaper. About one-in-five (19%) say that Murdoch's ownership of the paper will make it worse while 11% say that the change will make it better.
The deal stirred intense interest among media insiders, but little attention among the public, the Pew survey found. Just 7% followed news of the purchase very closely, with another 17% following it fairly closely and 22% paying only a little attention to developments. More than half of the public (54%) said they were not following this story at all closely.
Among the core audience for the deal -- those who followed the story very closely -- more say that the Journal will get worse rather than better under Murdoch (by 33% to 18%). However, a plurality (42%) of those who have been tracking the story very closely expect the change in ownership will not make much difference.
There also are some partisan differences in views of the purchase. About a quarter of Democrats (27%) say that Rupert Murdoch will make the newspaper worse, compared with 6% of Republicans who express this opinion. It is important to note, however, that more than half of all Republicans, Democrats and independents do not think that Murdoch's control of the Wall Street Journal will make much difference.
Interest in Murdoch's purchase was higher among wealthier people than among those with lower household incomes. Nearly three-in-ten (29%) of those with household incomes of at least $75,000 a year followed news of the deal very or fairly closely, compared with 19% of those with lower incomes. Men were more likely than women to be following news of the story very or fairly closely, the poll found.
Survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the week was collected Aug 3-6 from a nationally representative sample of 1,015 adults.