As long as I am posting about New York Times stories, there is a substantial one today by Joseph Kahn detailing the history of Rupert Murdoch's business dealings in China. It's worth both because it is interesting and because it seems to have put a spiky burr up News Corp's ass, to judge from their statement:

News Corporation officials in Beijing and Hong Kong declined to comment for this article. After The New York Times began a two-part series on Monday about how Mr. Murdoch operates his company, the News Corporation issued a statement:

“News Corp. has consistently cooperated with The New York Times in its coverage of the company. However, the agenda for this unprecedented series is so blatantly designed to further the Times’s commercial self interests — by undermining a direct competitor poised to become an even more formidable competitor — that it would be reckless of us to participate in their malicious assault. Ironically, The Times, by using its news pages to advance its own corporate business agenda, is doing the precise thing they accuse us of doing without any evidence.”

But we're not, you know, sensitive or anything.

Related:

Ken Auletta in the New Yorker, speculating on the fate of the Journal in a lengthy article that I have not yet finished reading.