"The Bancrofts" Would Give "Brothers and Sisters" a Run for their Money

ABC's Sunday night prime time hit "Brothers and Sisters" is filled with intrigue, betrayal, loyalty, jealousy and,of course, love. Ah, family! Well, a prime time soap about the real-life Bancroft family would be far more juicy, I think, if the e-mails among them are any clue.

Who the hell is the Bancroft family? They held the single largest block of stock in Dow Jones & Co., whose most prestigious asset is the Wall Street Journal, until they decided to sell it to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Under the terms of the "merger" -- aka acquisition -- the Bancrofts had the privilege of naming one of their family or someone designated by their family to represent them on the News Corp. Board.

Somehow the Wall Street Journal got a hold of the e-mails the members of the Bancroft family sent to each other and posted them on the wsj.com Web site. You can see them all for free here if you register for the free Congoo NetPass. The e-mails made me laugh out loud several times.

The bottom line is that the family had many weeks to decide who to put on the board but could never make a decision. (Can you relate?) They didn't even have a family vote until after the deadline. So Rupert's organization decided for them.

In the e-mails the family debated who should be named. They suggested a couple of outsiders -- to their credit, exemplary journalists. Three family members nominated themselves and tried to make a case for their selection. They were eloquent, except for the one who was ultimately chosen, who was refreshingly blunt and direct. Some emphasized the importance of selecting someone who would maintain the high quality of journalism for which the Journal is famous. Ironic, since the family voted to sell it to Rupert Murdoch's organization, which struck fear, terror and dread into the hearts of true journalists around the world, certainly including those at the Journal. Do I know that for sure? Of course not. But how could it be any other way?

Some of my favorite highlights from the e-mails:

July 27, Natalie Bancroft: "I adore many of you...."
(but not all, clearly)

July 27, Natalie Bancroft: "I am not for the selling because I believe the buyer is definately not the right person to own this paper, but on the other hand, as protective as we are, and with much of the false pride many of us have, do we deserve to own this paper any longer? We are the stewards, but our stewardship has been laclustre in many aspects to say the least."
(Misspellings are hers.)
(This is great, because she's the one who ultimately ended up being chosen, by Murdoch, not by her family.)

Sept. 20, Christopher Bancroft: "Our family's concerns about journalistic integrity are clearly indicated by our willingness to sell Dow Jones to News Corp."
(Touche!)

Sept. 20, Tom Hill: "At this rate I'm confident we'll have a nominee by the end of the year. I'm just not sure which year."
(I like this guy!)

Sept. 20, Crawford Hill: "This entire, sad and pathetic, final episode is a fiasco. No wonder we lost Dow Jones!!"
(He probably subscribes to this: "Friends are God's apology for family.")

Sept. 21, Natalie Bancroft: "This may sound far fetched to you, but...I would like to say that I am interested in the board seat. I know that I may be one of the least appealing choices due to my age...."
(She's 27, studies opera, is fluent in French, lives in London. For more on her, read this.)

Sept. 25, Elizabeth Steele and Michael Elefante: "We have heard from a substantial number of you.... Mike Hill received a large majority of the votes.... We will communicate the results to News Corp. and will let you know what we hear back."

Nov. 5, Elizabeth Steele and Michael Elefante: "We learned today that News Corp. intends to nominate Natalie Bancroft to its Board and to propose her name to the Special Committee for its approval. While News Corp. is aware that other members of the family received more support from within the family, News Corp. has interviewed Natalie and elected to nominate her. We trust that Natalie will endeavor to represent effectively the family's interests on the News Corp. Board."
(At least they were gracious about it, sort of.)

Remember, those were the words that made it to semi-public e-mails. Imagine what the behind-closed-doors conversations were like. If this family gets together for Thanksgiving, that would be an interesting family dinner.