An interesting two days of NYT business columns:
—one on Sunday by the deals reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, who writes a rather extraordinary column asking Dow Jones to accept the News Corp bid. “As they confront their continuing financial challenges, the Bancrofts can sit around and pray that a deep-pocketed white knight emerges—Warren E. Buffett, Bill Gates or The Washington Post are said by insiders to be favored choices—but it’s hard to think that even if such potential suitors did buy it they would seriously invest in the business the way Mr. Murdoch claims he would. It could result in just another holding pattern.” He also says that DJ CEO Rich Zannino appears to be a clear advocate of a sale to News Corp, describing the benefits of a deal to the board this week, he writes citing sources. “If the family cares about preserving the Dow Jones legacy and seeing the company continue to flourish, it’s time to be financially creative. Rupert Murdoch is knocking on their door.”

—the second one, today, by media columnist David Carr, doing some spin control on Murdoch’s we’ll-leave-editorial-independent song: “Despite his allaying words to the contrary, Murdoch would operate The Journal, including its editorial operations, as he sees fit. As Mr. Murdoch himself has said throughout his relentlessly acquisitive career, he buys things to run things.”

—and then, just for the heck of it, because one of the points of the proposed deal means taking on CNBC, Jon Friedman does a column saying the new-ish CNBC.com sucks. I wouldn’t disagree.