Instead, MarketWatch got bought out by a direct competitor that has lagged, not led, the revolution to publish free news on the Internet, despite the potential to break news during market hours and send stocks soaring--or tumbling. Now Dow Jones is catching up. Like all media mergers, MarketWatch's buyout by Dow Jones is creating high anxiety among MarketWatch's rank-and-file journalists, who fear that their jobs will be eliminated to cut costs. Dow Jones is based in New York, while MarketWatch is based in San Francisco. MarketWatch Chief Executive Larry Kramer was supposed to join a panel at the conference, but he canceled because he was negotiating the deal. Sources said Kramer, who co-founded MarketWatch, favored a buyout by Viacom, largely because it would have been the least disruptive deal, as Viacom is a large MarketWatch stakeholder. But Dow Jones' offer proved too lucrative.