Murdoch making his mark on WSJ

Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times writes Wednesday that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is already pushing Wall Street Journal editors for shorter articles and more hard news and has personally wooed reporters he wants to keep out of his competitors’ hands — even though his deal to acquire the business newspaper’s parent won’t officially close until later this month.

Perez-Pena wrote, “There are already firm plans to eliminate The Journal’s Marketplace section, containing articles on business trends and technology, in the first half of next year, with a new section taking its place, according to people at Dow Jones and the News Corporation who have been briefed on the changes. The editor of Marketplace, Melinda Beck, recently left that post to write a column on health, and no replacement has been named.

“There are also plans to replace dozens of the newsroom staff, while other personnel changes reflecting Mr. Murdoch’s priorities have already begun, including building up the Washington bureau and shopping for reporters and editors to hire away from The Journal’s competitors.

“When the takeover battle was under way last spring and summer, some of The Journal’s reporters and editors accused Mr. Murdoch of shaping his company’s journalism to reflect his own interests. Such criticism became far more muted as the takeover approached. There is anxiety about changes, real or rumored, tempered by optimism.”

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