The Paradox of Murdoch's Bid

That post about the WSJ seemed pretty biased and I just thought I should point out that it was not in the spirit of your usual insistence on honest reporting. Why do you get all worked up about this issue when you remain calm discussing topics from God to War to the Devil to Love or Sprots or Sports or Politics? About this you get worked up?

Well, first, when you put it that way it does seem silly and I'm ready to take back the heat. But the idea is that this brings head to head to issues that I care about. Journalism and Freedom. Only, here those two things that so often go hand in hand collide. Usually, free press operates both in an economic and journalistic sense in that anyone can open up a news media outlet and say what they want independently and people choose what to hear and read and believe. In such a case, the interests of freedom and journalism are served by allowing the invisible hand to move the economy undisturbed.

The problem here is that people trust a news source that has the means, the resources, to deliver great reporting. Another interest wants to takeover the WSJ and the repercussions may be harmful to the quality of future reporting or even introduce bias. So a free market economic system may now damage the free dissemination of information. Government regulation, which usually acts not in the interests of freedom, may in this case operate to protect knowledge and freedom. Paradox.