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If you happen to notice a downtick in the volume of quality financial reporting this week, here's why. With Rupert Murdoch close to a tentative deal on buying the Wall Street Journal—a deal that will allegedly give him the power to hire and fire editors—WSJ reporters have staged a small walk-out. From Romenesko:

June 28, 2007 11:00 A.M.

A statement from Wall Street Journal reporters:

Wall Street Journal reporters across the country chose not to show up to work this morning.

We did so for two reasons.

First, The Wall Street Journal's long tradition of independence, which has been the hallmark of our news coverage for decades, is threatened today. We, along with hundreds of other Dow Jones employees represented by the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, want to demonstrate our conviction that the Journal's editorial integrity depends on an owner committed to journalistic independence.