Apparently unhappy with the fact that it is in danger of becoming one of the great punch-lines in media history, the "Special Committee" created to protect the journalistic integrity of the Murdochian WSJ let out a loud yelp yesterday. Committee chairman Tom Bray issued a statement about the resignation of WSJ ME Marcus Brauchli and provided quotes for Journal reporter Steve Stecklow's accompanying story.

Having parsed Brauchli's departure letter, Jack Flack also felt an obligation to provide a flack's interpretation of the Special Committee's statement

The Special Committee: The Special Committee, established to oversee and enforce compliance with the terms of an agreement between News Corp. and Dow Jones & Co., has had numerous queries in the wake of the resignation of Marcus Brauchli as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal.

Translation: Our spouses read the newspapers.

The Special Committee: We felt it might be helpful to lay out a chronology of events:

Translation: We lost control of the story. Here's our side.

The Special Committee: At its regular quarterly meeting in February, the Committee met alone with Marcus Brauchli, who assured us that no issues of editorial independence or integrity had arisen in the wake of the News Corp. acquisition of Dow Jones in December.

Translation: Marcus was still hoping he could survive as the middle-man.

The Special Committee: Each member of the Committee received a telephone call from Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., on Monday April 21 alerting us to the fact that Brauchli had resigned and reached an "amicable" agreement with News Corp. He asked us to join a conference call at noon the next day.

Translation: Yes, we're all journalist types, and we know the difference between "amicable" and "amiable."

The Special Committee: Murdoch and other News Corp. officials, as well as Brauchli and Brauchli's lawyers, participated in the call. All members of the Committee participated.

Translation: The Kabuki greasepaint was stunning. Absolutely stunning.

The Special Committee: We questioned the officials and Brauchli about the circumstances of the resignation.

Translation: Everyone knew their lines.

The Special Committee: Although our charter does not directly envision a process for dealing with a resignation, Committee members expressed the view that learning of the Brauchli matter after the fact failed to meet the letter and the spirit of the agreement.

Translation: Rupert had chosen to ask forgiveness, not permission.

The Special Committee: We then asked the News Corp. representatives to leave the room and questioned Brauchli separately. His answers were consistent with what had been said before. He said he had been approached two weeks earlier and told that News Corp. wanted to make a change in the managing editor. Brauchli said he felt that the owners should be able to choose their own managing editor; that it would be best if he left without acrimony; and that his action was not the result of any problem with editorial interference or attempts to impose an ideological viewpoint. He insisted that News Corp. has been "scrupulous" about the integrity of the paper. He said that if that had not been the case, he would have notified us.

Translation: We're pinning this on Marcus.

The Special Committee: The committee has not been made aware of any issues of editorial independence or integrity either before or since the telephone conference.

Translation: The staffers find grousing among themselves far safer.

The Special Committee: After News Corp. officials rejoined the meeting, the Committee expressed the view that it should have been notified before the Brauchli departure. The News Corp. officials pledged to keep the committee thoroughly informed during the process of hiring a new managing editor.

Translation: They seemed terribly, terribly embarrassed that such a lapse in communications could have happened.

The Special Committee: The Committee met subsequently and decided that there was no practical way to "unresign" Brauchli and start the process over.

Translation: That horse is out of the barn.

The Special Committee: Under the agreement, the committee has the duty and responsibility to approve or disapprove such actions.

Translation: Nobody else is taking the agreement seriously. But we have to. We're the Special Committee.

The Special Committee: The Committee intends to exercise fully its role in the approval of a successor managing editor and to take the steps necessary to prevent a repeat of the process it has just been through.

Translation: We've figured out that if we don't, we're all going to become laughing stocks. Forever.

The Special Committee: The Committee will be meeting directly with Wall Street Journal Publisher Robert Thomson and News Corp. officials in the near future to discuss these and other matters.

Translation: We'll let them know that if they abuse us again, we'll walk as a group.

The Special Committee: Thomas J. Bray, Chairman, The Special Committee

Translation: This is not the kind of "special" we had in mind.