Stories related to: Wall Street Journal

Tensions are running high in the Wall Street Journal ’s newsroom, the New Republic reports, as staffers wonder just where this Murdoch thing is going. Managing editor Marcus Brauchli’s resignation still hangs heavy in the air. Murdoch pushed Brauchli to resign, and paid him millions to sign a non-disclosure agreement. “We're a business newspaper, so we know a sell-out when we see one,” one angry staffer said. More »

A Wall Street Journal reporter who served on the jury that convicted Uma Thurman’s stalker yesterday looks back today, recalling just over a week of debate, junk food, and weird dreams. “The fact that she was a famous movie star made us partly charmed, partly suspicious," writes Emily Steel, who normally covers online advertising. More »

Let’s stop kidding ourselves, Jack Shafer writes in Slate: Rupert Murdoch is seizing control of the Wall Street Journal , and we might as well be done with the “Special Committee” that was supposed to protect editorial independence. The Bancroft family insisted on the creation of the board, which then proved itself  "a set of high-paid flunkies" who sat on their hands as the paper’s top editor was forced out. More »

A committee formed to protect the editorial independence of the Wall Street Journal from Rupert Murdoch’s influence said today the solicited resignation of managing editor Macrus Brauchli violated an agreement with Murdoch's News Corporation, Reuters reports. The committee is supposed to review all high-level hirings and firings, but, as Brauchli opted to resign, it learned of his ouster only after the fact. More »

Newspaper circulation contracted the past six months as competition from Internet sources and cutbacks in advertising decreased sales, Bloomberg reports. Circulation dropped 3.6% for the industry as a whole, with only USA Today and the Wall Street Journal enjoying slightly increased circulation among the 25 largest papers. "The decline is certainly worse than in the past few years,'' one analyst said. More »

More top Wall Street Journal execs have been spit out by the Murdoch machine, and the staff they leave behind is furious they’re leaving so quietly. Zipping their mouths was part of hefty severance packages, David Carr notes in the New York Times , and as the line evaporates between editorial standards and owner's whims, the protectors of journalistic independence are missing in action. More »

Rupert Murdoch is betting new federal standards limiting media ownership to one TV station and one newspaper (per market) won't keep him from buying a fifth New York outlet. The mogul has long held waivers to control media in excess of the rules, and he doesn't think recent enforcement pledges will stop him from winning permission to own Newsday , the Times reports. More »

Continuing to report on the aftershocks of its own takeover, the Wall Street Journal does a postmortem on the departure of top editor Marcus Brauchli, detailing his uncomfortable position between a demanding new owner and the paper's institutional “DNA.” Rupert Murdoch wanted to build a direct competitor to the New York Times , with more general news and shorter stories, and felt the managing editor was holding up the overhaul. More »

After Marcus Brauchli officially resigned as managing editor of the Wall Street Journal this afternoon, the paper said it will "begin a search for Mr. Brauchli's replacement immediately." That may prove difficult: Brauchli, who will remain with News Corp. as a consultant,   wasn't given the control over the paper he felt management had promised, the New York Times reports. More »

Four months into the Rupert Murdoch era, the Wall Street Journal ’s managing editor is resigning. Marcus Brauchli, in the job since May, has tried to chart a path between Murdoch and the paper’s traditionalists, sources told Time, which broke the story on its website. The split is said to be amicable, and Brauchli is likely to take another post with the company. More »

If the New York Times is wooing potential buyers as many have speculated, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to be an ideal suitor. He heads a media empire, has a $12 billion fortune and the acumen to go mano-a-mano with Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal— and he'll have time on his hands when he leaves office next year. Only problem: he's not interested. More »

A newly Rupert Murdoch-ified Wall Street Journal throws down the gauntlet at the New York Times tomorrow , reports Newsweek , in the biggest battle of newspaper titans since Hearst v. Pulitzer. Murdoch is looking for (more) power and respect from the journalistic elite at a time when the Gray Lady is weakened by a huge loss of advertising and revenue. More »

The decline in the number of writers attached to presidential campaigns is “striking,” the New York Times reports—with only five newspapers trying to follow the candidates full-time. With per-person travel costs at $30,000, or more, a month, cash-strapped outlets are choosing not to foot the bill. The cost, some observers say, is that readers have fewer perspectives available. More »

The Bear Stearns crisis was bad news for many, but it was good news—or at least good business—for financial analysts at London-based Breaking Views. The credit crunch is increasing demand for the company’s financial insights, offered online and, through various partnerships, in print. Breaking Views is seizing the moment, courting more newspapers and offering free online columns, the Guardian reports. More »

The last month has made media boss Rupert Murdoch "a lot more pessimistic" about the outlook for the US economy, Reuters reports. Ad revenue is below expectations at his TV stations and newspapers and he expects "a temporary downturn for a year or so" at Dow Jones, the News Corp. boss told a media conference yesterday. It's the strongest public statement  yet among top media leaders concerning fears about a pending advertising recession. More »

Rupert Murdoch may now own the nation's hallowed financial bible, but the dumbing-down fears that accompanied the purchase of the Wall Street Journal have so far proven unfounded. This week the Journal will introduce a new sports page that will integrate stats from another News Corp. property, but Murdoch's company has so far resisted other tie-ins—even some proposed by WSJ execs—saying they don't want to cheapen the brand. More »

A month into the Rupert Murdoch era, the Wall Street Journal hasn't exactly turned into Fox News, but it has ratcheted up its political coverage, David Carr writes in the New York Times. The Journal's managing editor tells Carr the change is driven by both the drama of the presidential race and the Murdoch mandate to compete with the Times in general-interest news. More »

For 119 years, the Wall Street Journal has been based a few minutes away from the legendary financial hub it's named for, but new owner Rupert Murdoch plans to move it uptown, the New York Observer reports. The paper's staff is reportedly happy with the move, but more changes are in store: Murdoch plans to add a sports page and a lifestyle supplement. More »

Puncturing the hopes of thrifty web surfers everywhere, the Wall Street Journal will continue to charge for much of its online content, at least for now. New owner Rupert Murdoch's apparently unplanned announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos came after months of dithering over whether to keep access mostly subscriber-only, reports the New York Times . More »

News Corp., shifting its focus to its larger, more profitable properties, will sell eight of its medium-market Fox network TV stations to investment firm Oak Hill Capital Partners for $1.1 billion. The sale will leave the media company, which acquired the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones for $5.2 billion this year, with 27 stations, Bloomberg reports. More »