Brauchli had little control over important decisions

Jeff Bercovici of Conde Nast Portfolio writes Tuesday that Wall Street Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli, who resigned as the top journalist at the paper, felt as if he had no control when it came to important decisions being made at the paper.

Bercovici writes, “More significant, insiders say, is how Brauchli’s powers have gradually been appropriated by Robert Thomson, who came on board as publisher in December. (Unlike the newspaper’s previous publisher, Gordon Crovitz, Thomson has a position that spell outs an explicit editorial role.)

“‘Marcus has been rubbing up against Thomson and Murdoch for weeks now,’ says a former staffer who maintains ties to the paper.

“While maintaining a united front publicly, Brauchli ‘was resistant to a lot of the things they were trying to do,’ such as a redesign that has relegated business news to the B and C sections of the paper.

“Still, the former staffer adds, Brauchli would not have left of his own accord: ‘Marcus didn’t spend 20 years managing upward to get the top job only to walk away after a year.’

“Moreover, as time went on, Brauchli was increasingly being denied even the chance to object. That’s been the case with the new culture section under development, the editor says.”

Read more here.