Variety’s Steven Zeitchik writes about CNBC and FNC competing to cover the News Corp. bid for Dow Jones…

When news of the bid broke May 1, countless editors and producers were put in the thorny position of covering either their own company or a chief rival.

Improbably leading the coverage was CNBC, a cable news net not usually known for breaking big media stories.

No one was confirming how CNBC got so many juicy leaks — including the original report of Rupe’s offer — but the fact that Wall Street Journal editors and reporters have an exclusive agreement to appear on the net left some speculating that someone at the broadsheet was tipping the news.

CNBC’s rivals, for their part, weren’t sitting around. Finding itself in the position of having one of its competitors dining out on its own story, Fox News scheduled Murdoch on “Your World With Neil Cavuto,” in which the News Corp. chief laid out his case.