With Fenwick gone, Thomson on the hot seat

Robert Thomson

Leon Lazaroff of TheStreet.com writes about News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson‘s challenges in improving the operations at Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch.com and Barron’s, with the departure of its CEO, Lex Fenwick.

Lazaroff writes, “Thomson must now decide whether to even retain DJX or concentrate on the company’s flagship property, The Wall Street Journal, similar to how New York Times Co. sold the Boston Globe and other properties to focus on its foremost news organization. The News Corp. chief executive, who is running a company for his first time, must also decide what to do with two high-profile but money-losing operations, the New York Post and Times of London.

“‘Thomson’s charge as the CEO is to figure out that transition,’ Doctor said in a phone interview on Wednesday. ‘Beyond the money involved, [News Corp Chairman Rupert] Murdoch bought the Journal in part to do damage to The Times, and they took their eye off the ball.’

“Come Feb. 6, discussion about the rocky reign of Fenwick will be eclipsed by the questions of what to do with DJX’s chief properties, Factiva, a variety of newsletters and specialties such as its Risk & Compliance service, and the Dow Jones Newswires, which has largely been integrated into the Journal.

“The problem for News Corp. is that it’s not Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters, two much larger companies that can afford to take chances on non-core ventures with the knowledge that its main is reasonably healthy. News Corp. remains the largest newspaper company in the world but it’s strength is centered on the Journal rather than Factiva and the products that comprise DJX.

“‘This is the first defining legacy of Robert Thomson,’ Doctor said. ‘As CEO he is cleaning up his own mess, and doing it fairly rapidly. Most people expected that Fenwick would have all of 2014 to prove out his model. Thomson is probably is going to make more decision more quickly.'”