The Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones, last night said it planned to meet Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to discuss his bid for their media company, which they initially opposed.
The family warned, however, that there could be 'no assurance' that the talks would result in a deal with News Corp. The family indicated it was open to other offers for Dow Jones, whose prize asset is The Wall Street Journal.
The statement came two weeks after Murdoch, in an effort to ease concerns about journalistic integrity, wrote a letter to the Bancroft family in which he said he would create an independent editorial board for The Wall Street Journal if his bid succeeded.
In his letter, published on May 14 in the Journal, Murdoch said he would 'establish an independent, autonomous editorial board exactly along the lines of what was established at The Times of London,' which he owns.
The Journal, founded in 1889, is the most prominent daily business publication in the US with a daily circulation of 1.7 million newspapers and 788,000 internet subscribers.
