History Forum / General / British History / April 2008

Let's see what the free market of ideas says about the poster using
the bogus e-mail address panther@excelsior.com

Let's see now, where is it, ah yes, here:

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups/profile?enc_user=8kZNbhUAAAD5ALzSUpxBwvmofQfWS
85uwxPASLy3uohZw5h5t_8vdA

In 7935 ratings this poster has been awarded an average of one star.
According to the Google rating system, one star means:
"Poor, I would not recommend this post"

Market survey brought to you by

James Hogg

Mr. Murdoch has said publicly that he wants to make The Journal more
of a general-interest newspaper, to compete more directly with The New
York Times, though he insists he will not diminish its coverage of
business.

The front page has fewer business articles and fewer of the long,
offbeat features that were a signature of the paper.

"down goes Frazier"

April 22, 2008
Wall St. Journal Editor Expected to Resign
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Marcus W. Brauchli will step down as the top-ranking editor of The
Wall Street Journal after less than a year in the job, four people
briefed on the matter said on Monday, just four months after Rupert
Murdoch took control of the paper.

Mr. Brauchli, 46, will announce his resignation soon, according to
friends and current and former colleagues, all of whom requested
anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. They
differed as to whether he was being forced out as managing editor of
The Journal, one of the most coveted posts in journalism, or leaving
out of frustration.

The news of his pending resignation was first reported on Time
magazine’s Web site.

Since December, when Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation bought Dow Jones &
Company, publisher of The Journal, he has immersed himself in the
newspaper’s daily operations and quickly made changes in its shape and
style. Friends and colleagues say that Mr. Brauchli has been
frustrated with some changes, and with the sense that he did not have
the control over the newspaper that he was promised.

On Monday night, both Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Brauchli attended a dinner
of the Atlantic Council, a group promoting international cooperation,
at which Mr. Murdoch was being honored. Approached there, Mr. Murdoch
declined to comment about any change in editors; Mr. Brauchli said, “I
can’t talk.”

Mr. Murdoch has said publicly that he wants to make The Journal more
of a general-interest newspaper, to compete more directly with The New
York Times, though he insists he will not diminish its coverage of
business.

To that end, The Journal has increased its coverage of other areas,
notably politics, and the bulk of its first section is being devoted
to general-interest news. The front page has fewer business articles
and fewer of the long, offbeat features that were a signature of the
paper.

Journal newsroom employees say that Mr. Murdoch and the publisher he
installed, Robert J. Thomson, have made it clear that they think the
paper has too many editors, and have instructed Mr. Brauchli to thin
the ranks, potentially making room in the headcount for more
reporters. Two people briefed on Mr. Brauchli’s thinking said that had
become a major point of contention.

Under an agreement between the News Corporation and the Bancroft
family, who owned a controlling interest in Dow Jones for more than a
century, sole power over the newsroom was to rest with the managing
editor — Mr. Brauchli — and Mr. Murdoch could not remove him without
the consent of a committee of independent overseers. But even the
people within Dow Jones who supported that pact said that it would be
all but impossible to keep the new owner from having his way.

The Journal’s Web site reported Monday night that Mr. Thomson — who
was most recently the top editor of The Times of London, another News
Corporation property —may serve as an interim replacement for Mr.
Brauchli.

Reporters and other editors say that while Mr. Brauchli agreed with
some of the changes made in recent months, it was clear that many of
them were dictated from above, and that he questioned the shift toward
general-interest news. And Mr. Thomson has come to be seen in the
newsroom as a supereditor, looking over Mr. Brauchli’s shoulder.

Mr. Brauchli, a former foreign correspondent who has been with Dow
Jones since 1984, was named managing editor in April 2007, and took
the helm the next month. He was a popular choice in the newsroom,
where he is well liked and respected.

The Journal has weekday circulation in the United States of more than
two million, second only to USA Today.