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."

Brauchli has made clear that he resigned and was not fired, but it’s also clear that, as one of the few pre-Murdoch editors, he was not welcome as Murdoch and his flunkies implement their plan to transform the once-respectable WSJ into another republican tabloid.

But Murdoch wasn’t done in his quest to control every ounce of media Americans consume — he wants to buy ANOTHER New York newspaper. From NY Times:

Rupert Murdoch is moving to tighten his already-imposing grip on American news media, striking a tentative deal to buy his third New York-based paper, Newsday… -snip-

His $580 million bid for Newsday and his urgency in remaking The Journal worry his competitors and cause angst in many newsrooms, including his own. –snip-

The purchase of Newsday from the Tribune Company would put Mr. Murdoch in control of 3 of the nation’s 10 largest-circulation papers (the others being The Journal and The New York Post).

So back to my question: How much control over the media should one person have? “Free” market anti-regulation Republicans (and Murdoch) would probably say, “As much as a person can afford.” But for me, that begs the question, “To whose benefit is that?” What does America gain from having one single pathologically greedy, power hungry person have more control over what information people have and what they think about it? I can’t think of any, especially when you see the way FOX lies, distorts, and ignores anything that might hurt republicans. Murdoch’s individual “freedom” to own everything is not worth EVERYONE ELSE IN AMERICA losing the freedom to receive accurate information. It just isn’t.