Any reasonable person who’s had the misfortune of watching the Fox News channel in the U.S. knows only too well its “Unfair and Unbalanced” tone.

So, it’s with deep regret we note that News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has finally managed to get his grubby hands on one of the world’s finest newspapers – the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) – by his purchase of the paper’s parent company Dow Jones.

India and Indians have special reason to worry – and be extremely wary – because of Murdoch’s perceived softness when it comes to news coverage of China and the dictatorship running that Communist country.

And no one ever said China was a friend of India. 

Besides the ugly Fox TV network, New York Post, The Times of London, Star TV and DirecTV also form part of News Corp’s vast media empire that stretches from Australia to India to the U.S.

It’s a Dark Day for Newspaper lovers, few as they are in the U.S.

Of course, we had little doubt that Murdoch would win. After all, we live in a society where money trumps everything else.

Murdoch with his $60 per share bid, a 67% premium over Dow Jones stock price at the time of his offer three months back, had made it all but impossible for the offer not to go through.

Ultimately, it took just $5 billion to bring to an end a fine era.

The Wall Street Journal will be Murdoch’s heavy artillery as he launches a business channel to take on the stupid CNBC.

The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times remain our two favorite newspapers. We’ve been so thoroughly spoiled by the quality of these two fine publications that we seldom look elsewhere for news, book reviews, stock quotes, restaurant reviews and movie reviews.

In our pessimistic view, now the New York Times is all that’s left between us and the crooks and clowns who fight to rule the world.

The NYT is the last fine, strong newspaper standing on the road.

To paraphrase Rick Blaine in Casablanca, the rest don’t don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.