BEIJING, May 8 -- James Ottaway Jr, whose family controls 6.2 percent of voting rights at Dow Jones & Co, opposes a 5 billion U.S. dollars takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, saying it threatens the publisher's editorial integrity.

    Dow Jones' brand name and its reputation for "accurate, fair, objective and reliable business news reporting" would be "damaged" if News Corp acquired the company, Ottaway said in a statement on Sunday on the Wall Street Journal's Website. His son, Jay, voiced similar opposition in a separate statement.

    "Rupert Murdoch comes from a very different tradition of Australian-British media ownership and editorial practice in which he has for a long time expressed his personal, political and business biases through his newspapers and television channels," the senior Ottaway said.

    Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, said last week that its board wouldn't act on News Corp's May 1 offer of 60 dollars a share because Bancroft family members, who have 52 percent of the voting power, oppose the bid. Backing from the Ottaway family members increases the opposition to at least 58 percent.

    The Ottaways acquired their stake in New York-based Dow Jones in 1970 when the company bought the family's chain of community newspapers. The Bancrofts are descendants of Jane Bancroft, whose stepfather, Clarence Barron, acquired Dow Jones in 1902, 20 years after it was founded by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser.

    News Corp's offer for Dow Jones, which also owns Barron's and Dow Jones Newswires, was 65 percent above the previous day's closing stock price. Bancroft family members voiced opposition almost immediately.

    The Bancrofts hold about 64 percent of the voting power at Dow Jones through Class A and Class B shares, while owning about 25 percent of the company. News Corp's bid values the Bancroft stake at about 1.23 billion dollars.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)