Murdoch's experience of an "independent editorial board" includes one mandated by the British government in 1981 for the Times and Sunday Times. In 26 years, this board has not proven its worth to either paper’s editorial independence, perhaps because of the way it is formed: For a start, Murdoch fills the board with Establishment worthies and people of a like-minded persuasion. Few are inclined to cross him. For example, when he forced Harry Evans out of the editor's chair at the Times in 1982, they sat on their hands. Ditto when Frank Giles was told to resign from the Sunday Times in 1983. A truly independent board would at least question such decisions rather than simply rubber-stamp them.

When I hit my little Malaysian difficulty in 1994, it never occurred to me to appeal to the so-called independent directors: I knew it would be a waste of time. In any case, no editor can long survive without the confidence of the proprietor—anywhere. For two and a half decades, Murdoch has hired and fired editors at will and the independent directors have played no part, other than the pro forma validation of his decisions after he has taken them. I doubt it will be very different at the Journal.

But it will be different in other ways. Murdoch has long coveted a global business brand and has huge plans for the Journal. In the 1980s, he tried to buy the Financial Times but, unusually for the wily colonial boy, was outwitted by the ruling patricians and had to dump his 20 percent stake. He has always had his eye on the Wall Street Journal, which he regards as badly run and underexploited but brimming with potential.

So what will he do? Like many people, I expect Murdoch would behead much of the existing management, take an ax to the bureaucracy, roll up his sleeves once more, and get stuck in himself. At 76, this is his last great media play, and he will want to leave nothing to chance. The new Fox business channel would become, in effect, the station of the Wall Street Journal, going head-to-head with CNBC and would be as heavily promoted in his various newspapers across the world as his British satellite channels are in his British papers. He would beef up the European and Asian editions of the Journal and take a run in these markets at the Financial Times, which he thinks is run by a bunch of lazy pinkos. Dow Jones and Journal copy would start appearing in all his other titles across the globe.

Most important of all, web-savvy Murdoch would roll out WSJ.com as the world’s premier business site online for the 21st century global elite, sitting nicely alongside his social site, MySpace. It will be a roller coaster of a ride, exciting for some, unnerving for most. There will be blood on the carpet and the walls, but I believe the Journal will emerge as a much stronger, if not necessarily better, global brand as a result. And to those who think Murdoch will be so busy with the business strategy that he will not interfere in the editorial side of the paper and that it will continue much as it is, remember this: When it comes to shaping editorial content to his liking, he just can't help himself.