Is WSJ becoming USA Today?

Philip Stone writes on Follow the Media that The Wall Street Journal is beginning to have some of the same characteristics as USA Today.

Stone writes, “The first thought that came to mind is that this is no longer primarily a business newspaper. It is a general news newspaper that still has a healthy dose of business and financial news.  And for people on the road who don’t have access to their local newspaper and who buy USA Today then one can’t help but think that the WSJ today serves that same purpose –- a national newspaper without local ties that tells you what has really happened over the past 24 hours.

“Oh sure, USA Today and the WSJ have different writing styles –- USA Today stories real short; WSJ stories real long –- and their coverage is not from the same planet, but the WSJ has announced the introduction of a daily sports section although it is predicated on writing about the future with lots of charts and graphics rather than giving yesterday’s game story and scores.

“And it’s doubtful that anyone will ever confuse the page design of USA Today with the WSJ, but if the purpose of each is to give a pretty good idea what has happened generally in the past 24 hours and what may be happening in the future, then the WSJ has moved to that platform. The writing styles are still very different –- USA Today written for the Kansas City milkman while the Journal is more high brow –- but the fact is the WSJ is no longer just a business newspaper intended just for those wanting just a daily dose of business and financial news.”

Read more here.