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Can Murdoch Pass the Stink Test?Assessing the mogul against the standards of the Dow Jones code of conduct.

By Jack Shafer
Posted Tuesday, May 29, 2007, at 6:07 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

If insulating Murdoch from the Wall Street Journal is such a great idea, why hasn't he instituted similarly autonomous editorial boards to shield the operations of the New York Post and Fox News Channel from his whims? But that's not the Murdoch way. A Page One story in the Feb. 14, 1994, Wall Street Journal portrays Murdoch as a details-crazed micromanager, reviewing before publication the next day's editorial in his New York Post.

A wordy section of the Dow Jones code of conduct prohibits company employees from accepting money or gifts, either directly or indirectly, from anybody seeking a mention in the pages of a Dow Jones publication. A different code operated at Murdoch's Post until earlier this month when the paper acknowledged that its "Page Six" editor, Richard Johnson, had accepted a $1,000 gift from a restaurateur. Presumably the money was for "play" in the pages of Murdoch's newspaper. The New York Times counts 15 favorable "Page Six" mentions of the restaurateur or his establishment in the two years since the gift-giving.

Once confronted, how did Murdoch's Post clear the ethical air? Don't be dense. Its editor, Col Allen, called the receipt of the gift a "grave mistake," meted out an unspecified reprimand to Johnson, and explicitly banned such future windfalls for employees. But don't blame Johnson and Allen for their ethical laxity. Boss Murdoch sets low standards for the whole company. They merely follow.

Does Murdoch pass the Dow Jones stink test? He's not even qualified to take it.

******

What Murdoch transgressions have I ignored? Send e-mail to . E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)

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Jack Shafer is Slate's editor at large.
Photograph of Rupert Murdoch by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images.
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