Another Player Joins Competition for Dow Jones

Another would-be Dow Jones suitor emerged this afternoon: Pearson, which publishes the Financial Times. In a media-company-news hall of mirrors, the Wall Street Journal reports that Pearson is searching for partners in its "longshot" bid and has approached Hearst and GE; the FT reports that its parent company has "sounded out" GE, which owns CNBC.

Dow Jones is sitting on a $5 billion offer from News Corp., but the controlling Bancroft family appears reluctant to cast its lot with Rupert Murdoch unless its concerns about editorial independence are assuaged. Pearson and Dow Jones have complementary assets—according to the latter's crown jewel, the Journal—but Pearson's ability to match Murdoch's $60-a-share offer is in doubt. (More Dow Jones stories.)