WSJ is embracing the digital revolution

Wall Street Journal managing editor Gerard Baker spoke Monday at the City University of London, and Journal social media editor Sarah Marshall took notes about his talk and posted them on Google Docs.

Here were some of Baker’s points, according to Marshall:

5 key things the Journal is doing that news orgs need to pursue

1. To genuinely embrace the digital revolution. News orgs need to completely change the culture. “We have to fundamentally rethink our product and reshape it for the digital age,” says Baker.

2. We need to be genuinely independent. You cannot become dependent on the companies on which you are reporting. We need to be mindful of journalistic ethics and standards.

3. We need to get the balance right in our journalism. “The primary function is accountability,” Baker says. The public sector and the corporate sector need to be held to account.

4. Business news orgs need “a higher degree of specialisation”. People talk about niche content in digital, focusing on specific areas. There’s still a role for a wider role, but there are business opportunities for offering specialised “verticals”, specialising on particular areas. Today launched a vertical aimed at media and marketing. It’s called CMO today.

5. There is an opportunity to become a genuinely global business news organisation. And as emerging economies arrive on the world stage there is a huge opportunity for a news org like the Journal. The Journal will be making a push in the next year or so to do that.

The demand for honest, fair business journalism is not going away, there’s a huge audience for that, says Baker.

Read the rest of Marshall’s notes here.