The new Journal

The NY Observer has an in-depth look at the WSJ's move to midtown from their Battery Park offices. No groundbreaking stuff here, more just a collection of holier-than-thou faux libertarians lamenting their horrible fate (hey, it's just what the market dictated! Ergo, it's only right and natural!) and reminiscing about "simpler times and values."

But it's worth a read simply for the description of the NewsCorp cafeteria, and general culture at NewsCorp headquarters (a building the WSJ reporters call "The Death Star." Full points for that - it's good comedy.)

The new real estate space means The Journal will be pushed into the forefront in a whole new way.

In the elevators, in the gym—which Journal reporters can join for $7 per week—they’ll be reminded wherever they turn that they are now aliens living in someone else’s house.

“In the cafeteria, there has been some reaction to the names of the sandwiches!” said an editor. “There is some sort of O’Reilly wrap.”

“When you walk in, you walk by this huge picture of Fox Nation,” said a reporter. “That’s the hardest part for them to handle—that you’re in the same building as Fox News. There’s this sort of visceral feeling that you’re cheek to cheek to the least palatable parts of Murdoch world. He owns The Times of London, The Australian and then you’re there with Fox News.”

And even when you wind up climbing back to your desk, the TVs all have a feed tuned directly into Fox News and the Fox Business Channel. Reporters who are there now said that they can’t change the channel, but a Journal spokesman said, “The TV channels can be changed. Facilities will be coordinating the distribution of the remote controls once the move is complete.”

When do we get to change NewsCorps' name to "The Ministry of Truth?"