Here’s a question: Exactly how much power over the media should one person be allowed to have? Because Rupert Murdoch is going to put that to the test.

On Tuesday, Marcus Brauchli, the managing editor of the now Murdoch-owned and formerly reputable Wall Street Journal, suddenly resigned. From Editor & Publisher:

Newsroom union members at The Wall Street Journal are looking at the resignation of Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli as the loss of "a buffer who would maintain editorial independence," according to the union's top leader.

Steve Yount, president of the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, said word that Brauchli is planning to step down after less than a year in the top editing post has drawn concern among members who believed he helped keep some newsroom independence under the new News Corp. ownership.

"It was reassuring that he was there because he was not a News Corp. guy," Yount said Tuesday. "They had hopes he was maintaining the editorial independence."