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uted. For this proud family whose ancestor, Clarence W. Barron, purchased the Journal and with it the Dow Jones news service in 1902 conceives of its ownership as a “public trust.” That is how Roy A. Hammer, a lawyer and trustee for the entities through which the Bancrofts control the paper, described their sense of ownership. This is not so unusual. Great newspapers have always played a major role in American civic life. I said “great newspapers,” serious newspapers, the kind that put gathering news ahead of sensationalism. Most of the truly profitable newspapers in the country today are essentially shopping circulars with some cheap journalism printed on those pages not devoted to shopping mall sales. The great newspaper chains take over local papers, fire journali