Republican ass kissing....

WSJ chief reminds editors to be 'fair' to Trump

By Joe Pompeo

Now that Rupert Murdoch is reportedly an official Donald Trump supporter, Murdoch Kremlinologists will be even more hyper-attuned to coverage of the GOP nominee in the News Corp. chairman’s American newspapers.

As I reported this morning in the inaugural edition of POLITICO's Morning Media column, here’s an anecdote that might make their ears perk up: During one of The Wall Street Journal’s recent morning news meetings, editor in chief Gerry Baker took a couple minutes to remind editors to be “fair” to Trump, according to a source with direct knowledge of the remarks, because, Baker said, no matter what people think of him, Trump’s a serious candidate and lots of serious people are going to get behind his White House bid.

The source described Baker’s Trump talk as a “surreal tangent” in a meeting normally reserved for ironing out the logistics of covering the day’s top stories. The source also said the comments were widely discussed among Journal editors and bureau chiefs, some of whom took them as an insult or admonition. A Journal spokeswoman declined to comment.

To be fair, Trump is no ordinary candidate, and the press has reveled in the circus-like atmosphere of his campaign. So it's not unreasonable for the editor of a national newspaper to want to make sure his journalists give Trump a fair shake now that he is one of two candidates in the running to become our next president.

At the same time, while Murdoch is known for using some of his publications in the U.S., U.K. and Australia to influence politics, the Journal is generally seen as impervious. Plus Murdoch had appeared to be at odds with Trump for much of this election cycle, and Trump has railed against the Journal’s coverage of his campaign.

But maybe that’s changing?

Last week, the Journal’s right-leaning editorial board—which operates independently of the newsroom—seemed to signal support for Trump’s would-be Supreme Court nominees.