A change in accents at The Wall Street Journal

Frank Ahrens of The Washington Post writes Wednesday about the changes at The Wall Street Journal under new owner, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.

Ahrens wrote, “In print, the Journal’s new sports page will be fueled by content from Stats Inc., a sports statistics service owned by News Corp. and the Associated Press. The Journal has selectively covered sports but without a dedicated sports page. Brauchli said the page will initially appear on Fridays, looking ahead to weekend events, and eventually go daily. The Journal’s deadlines are too early to accommodate late scores, Brauchli said, but such content could easily be addressed on the Journal’s Web page, which probably will eventually include video from Fox Sports.

“News video clips from Fox’s cable and broadcast properties can already be seen on the Journal’s Web site. Journal editors pick what they want to show; typically, the videos cover international and general news.

“The Web site of the Fox Business Network — launched in October with the Dow Jones acquisition in mind — carries material from MarketWatch, and MarketWatch reporters appear on the business channel.

“During his pursuit of the Journal, Murdoch said the paper probably had too many long stories. Journal reporters have noted a change in the paper’s front page toward more ‘urgency’ and away from the longer, off-the-news features that have been a trademark of the paper, said a Journal reporter who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. ‘Our people are doing this in advance, I think, to make him happy,’ the reporter said.”

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