That’s the conclusion that Fortune senior writer Devin Leonard reached about the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the change in management at parent Dow Jones & Co. last week.
“The newspaper read — and feared — by everybody in corporate America published the equivalent of a press release,” wrote Leonard.
He added: “Here’s what you didn’t read in the Journal. Under Kann, Dow Jones has faced two crises. The first is his management. Since Kann became CEO in 1991, Dow Jones’s total return to shareholders has been 109 percent. By comparison, the New York Times Co. and the Washington Post Co. delivered returns of about 228 percent and 368 percent, respectively.
“The second crisis has been the abysmal market conditions afflicting all newspapers, as readers and advertisers abandon print for the Internet and other new media. If ever there were a time to break with tradition and appoint a nonjournalist as chief executive, it’s now.”
Read his entire analysis, posted this afternoon, here.
OLD Media Moves
Press release masquerading as a WSJ story
January 11, 2006
That’s the conclusion that Fortune senior writer Devin Leonard reached about the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the change in management at parent Dow Jones & Co. last week.
“The newspaper read — and feared — by everybody in corporate America published the equivalent of a press release,” wrote Leonard.
He added: “Here’s what you didn’t read in the Journal. Under Kann, Dow Jones has faced two crises. The first is his management. Since Kann became CEO in 1991, Dow Jones’s total return to shareholders has been 109 percent. By comparison, the New York Times Co. and the Washington Post Co. delivered returns of about 228 percent and 368 percent, respectively.
“The second crisis has been the abysmal market conditions afflicting all newspapers, as readers and advertisers abandon print for the Internet and other new media. If ever there were a time to break with tradition and appoint a nonjournalist as chief executive, it’s now.”
Read his entire analysis, posted this afternoon, here.
Media News
New WSJ editor Tucker unimpressed with work ethic
May 27, 2023
Media News
Parents of WSJ’s Gerhskovich travel to Russia
May 27, 2023
Media News
AP hires Adebayo to cover intersection of climate and biz in Africa
May 27, 2023
Media News
FT editor in chief Khalaf on how it will use artificial intelligence
May 26, 2023
Media News
Pardes departs The Information for a new opportunity
May 26, 2023
Subscribe to TBN
Receive updates about new stories in the industry daily or weekly.