The News Corp/Dow Jones deal makes sense for everybody.

Dow Jones has done a magnificent job building the Wall Street Journal into the United States’ second largest newspaper, with more than 2 million daily readers and even a profitable web site. It is less susceptible to the ravages other newspapers are experiencing because of its prowess for collecting and disseminating financial news—not something that noisy bloggers and show-all web portals can easily replace.

These are, though, dangerous times for the newspaper industry. The smell of death is in the air. Readers have deserted the slowsky papers for the instant-gratification internet. Advertisers have cut back; and with less advertising, newspapers are running less content, which in turn leads to fewer readers. That spiral could quickly take newspapers as we know them into oblivion. Some will avoid this fate by leveraging their web portals and their abilities to collect and disseminate valuable information. The Wall Street Journal has some of the best odds of dodging the internet bullet.

This is why Murdoch’s bid makes sense. News Corp. can use Dow Jones’ financial information assets to beef up the value of its existing content channels and produce more revenue. That revenue can be funneled back to further enhance the great content Dow Jones already produces, attracting more readers and, in turn, more advertisers.

In addition, Murdoch seems to have a vision for a robust content and distribution business that can mesh with the googolization of the world. After all, when you consider what internet eyeballs are going for these days, his $650 million purchase of MySpace.com seems like a stroke of brilliance. Most importantly, with a bid that is 80 percent higher than the 52-week low for Dow Jones, Murdoch seems to be willing to place a significant bet that he can do more with the Dow Jones assets than the current owners and managers.

I think he’s right. Do you?