Categories: OLD Media Moves

WSJ Europe publisher resigns due to perceived conflict

The Wall Street Journal Europe publisher resigned Tuesday over what he called a possible perception of impropriety, reports Edmund Lee at Bloomberg News.

Lee writes, “Andrew Langhoff, who ran the newspaper’s business since January 2009, said an agreement between its circulation department and a company called Executive Learning Partnership could be viewed as undermining the editorial independence of the news operation, he said in an e-mail to employees, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News.

“‘Because the agreement could leave the impression that news coverage can be influenced by commercial relationships, as publisher with executive oversight, I believe that my resignation is now the most honorable course,’ he said in his e- mail.

“The e-mail’s authenticity was confirmed by Kate Dobbin, a spokeswoman for News Corp.’s Dow Jones & Co. unit.

“The business agreement Langhoff cited was handled by another employee who is no longer with the company, according to his e-mail.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.