WSJ’s Tucker talks shifting to an audience-first mentality

Brian Morrissey of The Rebooting spoke with Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker about how she’s trying to change the publication.

Morrissey writes, “Some takeaways from our conversation:

“Transitioning from a ‘print ethos.’ Print still gives publications heft, and I suspect that will become more valuable in a world filled with synthetic content, much of it utter crap. But that role is more of being a ‘shop window,’ Emma told me the Journal needs a ‘definitive move away from print’ to serving digital audiences rather than seeing the newspaper as a central distribution channel.

“‘The ethos of print was very established and very much defined the way we thought about our journalism. My view was it’s time now to move away from that and really, really think hard about the expectations of digital audiences.’

“Adopting an audience-first mindset. It sounds obvious, but the challenge for many publishers is adopting audience-first strategies rather than trying to be all things to all people (and all algorithms). That was the main takeaway from a content review Emma commissioned soon after taking on the top role. Those exercises are usually preludes to organizational change. The main theme highlighted in the review: being an ‘audience-first publication for people that mean business.’ Translation: more investigative pieces, less filler content, more ‘constructive journalism’ that serves audience needs instead of winning Twitter/X.”

Read more here.