More important snippets from coverage of the change at the top at Dow Jones:
1. Richard Zannino, the incoming CEO of Dow Jones, told the Washington Post that he has no plans of getting rid of Barron’s, the company’s weekly business newspaper aimed at investors. The newspaper has lost 30 percent of its ads, according to the story. Read the entire piece here.
2. The New York Post speculated in its story about who would succeed Wall Street Journal editor Paul Steiger when he retires in a year. It notes that a number of people have left the newspaper for other jobs because they became frustrated behind Steiger, but could return.
3. The New York Times article quoted a Dow Jones board member about Zannino’s lack of journalism experience. The article read in part: “The fact that Mr. Zannino did not have a background in journalism had given the board slight pause over elevating him to the top post, according to Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., the retired president and chief executive of Hallmark Cards and an influential member of the Dow Jones board.
“‘We wanted to be sure we had thought through and understood Rich’s thinking on how to structure the company when Rich became C.E.O. in a way that didn’t diminish the value of the journalistic side of the business to the overall brand and institution,'” Mr. Hockaday said.”
The Times article can be read here.
4. The Los Angeles Times’ article quoted a number of former news managers about the change. It’s article read in part: “Current and former Journal staffers said they were concerned that Zannino would cut resources and that he might not be as concerned about preventing powerful business interests from influencing news coverage.
“‘A great strength of the Wall Street Journal, certainly since World War II, has been the strong representation of experienced journalists and journalistic values in senior leadership,’ said Frank Allen, a longtime editor who left in 1994.
“‘When I arrived in 1979,’ he said, ‘the purpose of the daily news huddle was to decide how much space to take away from advertising so you could make a larger news hole.’
‘Another former Journal editor said Zannino had a quick mind, an accessible manner and a keen focus on the stock price.
”That’s why Wall Street loves him,’ said the editor, who did not want his name used because he works for another publication.”
You can read the LA Times’ article here.
