It's a fairly slow Murdoch-Dow Jones news day, even though we're only in day four of the friendly proposed takeover standoff. The biggest item of the day is a New York Times interview with Rupert Murdoch himself. Reading from notes at times, Murdoch says he would leave current Journal staff in place, he just wants to meet with the Bancroft family, he would be a hands-off owner, if the deal goes through he would insert the word "Journal" into the name of his Fox Business Journal, and that long stories in the paper bore him. (We sympathize.)

In the Los Angeles Times, former Journal Managing Editor Norman Pearlstine thinks Murdoch wants to buy the paper because he's a newspaper man at heart, and a vain one at that. As for the Bancrofts, Murdoch's New York Post calls them "a house divided," and notes a "growing family conflict" over the bid.

Staffers at the Journal are also concerned that the family will eventually give in to Murdoch. They shouldn't hold out any hope for Warren Buffett to rescue them, says MarketWatch, noting that the bridge-loving Nebraskan billionaire "tries to avoid overpaying for acquisitions and rarely gets involved in competitive auctions." (They shouldn't have any real hope for a bid from Bloomberg either.)

The Journal itself reports on Murdoch's "two-pronged offensive" to charm the Bancrofts and reassure the paper's staffers.

Finally, the Guardian speculates that, if the deal does go through, the Financial Times will face the threat of "Mr Murdoch's legendary business aggression." —balk

Yesterday: What Everyone's Saying Today About Rupert Murdoch's Bid For Dow Jones

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