WSJ editor changes show foresight

David Lee Smith of The Motley Fool writes Thursday that the editor changes at The Wall Street Journal are designed to take advantage of changes in the media world, not gird the paper for an impending takeover by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, who has offered $5 billion to purchase parent Dow Jones & Co.

Smith wrote, “Indeed, from my perspective, the changes — which will take effect in July — represent both an effort by Marcus W. Brauchli, the Journal‘s new managing editor, to put his stamp on his operation and a fulfillment of some of the promises that the paper’s brass made when it was reconfigured earlier this year. Indeed, a key objective is to strengthen the synergies between the paper and its online counterpart.”

Later, he added, “But at the risk of tossing out too much detail, I’ll only note that another of Brauchli’s intentions is a smoother coordination of the U.S., European, and Asian versions of the Journal, both print and online. And, from a memo from Gordon Crovitz, the paper’s publisher: ‘A key theme of these changes is that the Journal will be structured to report the news 24/7, across print and online, reflecting the way our readers and consumers increasingly consume it.’

“So as we await the Bancrofts’ latest proposal for insuring that Murdoch’s presence would not hurt the Journal, should the family decide to accept his offer, it is business as usual at the paper.”

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