Several weeks after sealing the deal to purchase Dow Jones Co. (and thus, The Wall Street Journal) billionaire Rupert Murdoch finally catches on that all his prized reporters are running for the exits. So Murdoch does what anyone planning to delegitimize a once-revered financial news entity and transform it into a mouthpiece for his partisan right-wing politics would do—he calls up three top reporters and politely "asks" them to stay. Needless to say, reactions were mixed, which is to say, "predictably split along party lines." Sez the LA Times:

Some journalists in the newsroom took the gesture as a sign of Murdoch's commitment to keep the staff's quality high. Others said it showed that Murdoch would take a hands-on approach in newsroom affairs despite a special committee established to keep him from interfering in coverage.

Personal politics aside, however, everyone at WSJ agreed the the "gesture" could be summed up in a single word: creepy.