How the WSJ’s sport section brings in readers

Noah Davis of The Business Insider talked to Wall Street Journal sports editor Sam Walker about the goals of its sports coverage.

Davis writes, “The sports page — which started as a section in the Weekend Journal — has its own two-page spread in the daily paper. Walker has an editorial staff of around 20, with correspondents located all over the world. Sports stories don’t just appear in their dedicated section, either; when appropriate, they run on the front page or elsewhere in the publication

“Despite the increased effort — one of New Corps’ first initiatives after buying The Journal was to ramp up the sports section — it runs under the radar. That is, at least in part, by design.

“‘Everyone who reads us ultimately is a subscriber,’ Walker told The Wire while seated in conference room in the paper’s midtown offices on Wednesday. ‘That’s what we care about. We want to build our Journal subscription base. We want to be part of the reason that it’s growing. That’s our job.’

“That isn’t to say Walker and his crew are not inserting themselves into the national sports dialogue. For example, their cycling coverage, specifically the Floyd Landis story, continues to drive the narrative forward. There are also ‘big idea’ stories, such as Friday’s ‘Why Can’t The U.S. Build A Soccer Star?‘ They are scoring scoops and, increasingly, access.”