New page one editor, international editor and national editor at WSJ

Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson made the following staff promotion announcement on Friday afternoon:

Our Troika is in transition. Alix Freedman’s exit has created an opportunity for us to promote from within the luxuriant ranks of our homegrown talent.

Rebecca Blumenstein will become Page One Editor and Deputy Managing Editor. She will bring her verve, energy, creativity and logistical acumen to the important task of enterprising journalism, both in landmark projects and in driving the news agenda (not being driven by it). Ambitious journalism is a vital part of our future. Rebecca’s global and digital background will ensure that our stories have maximum impact, here and abroad, and across languages and platforms. She will be traveling and talking far and wide to generate original ideas and pursue angles beyond the means or wit of our competitors.

Rebecca has been a Deputy Managing Editor since December 2009, having previously served as Managing Editor of WSJ.com and as China Bureau Chief. Prior to moving to China in the summer of 2005, she was chief of the Journal’s New York Technology Group after serving as the group’s deputy chief. She joined the Journal in 1995 as a reporter in the Detroit bureau. She began her journalism career at the Tampa Tribune, and then later moved to Gannett Newspapers and Newsday.

As a reporter, Rebecca has been honored by New York Newswomen, the Gerald Loeb Awards and oversaw the China team that won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2007. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and social science from the University of Michigan, where she was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Daily.

Matt Murray takes Rebecca’s post as International/Investing Editor and Deputy Managing Editor. He comes to this crucial job just as we are embarking on ambitious international expansion in Europe, Asia and Latin America (and a few other yet-to-be mentioned continents). His news sense, leadership and editing skills will assist colleagues here and around the globe, and his passion for the pursuit of great stories will ensure an extra shot of adrenaline for all under his tender care.

He has been Deputy Managing Editor and National Editor for The Wall Street Journal since June 2008, and previously served as general news editor, a national news editor and earlier as deputy editor and senior special writer for the management group. He joined the company in April 1994 as a reporter in the Pittsburgh bureau. Matt is the author of “The Father and the Son,” a 1999 book based on his 1995 Journal article—a memoir about his father and his entrance into a monastery. Born in Washington, D.C., Matt received both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Alex Martin becomes Deputy Managing Editor and National Editor, succeeding Matt. Alex is a true pro, with a touch of lateral genius beneath that fashionable facial stubble. He has run a newsroom in the not-too-distant past and excelled in developing and editing enterprise reporting on Page One – he also played a pivotal role in the fashioning of the splendidly successful Greater New York section.

He joined the Journal in 2005 as deputy editor of Marketplace. He worked at Newsday from 1989 to 2005, where he held a number of positions, including assistant managing editor for investigations, features and coverage of Long Island. In 1996, he helped lead Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800. A native of New Orleans, Alex began his career at the St. Francisville Democrat in St. Francisville, La., followed by eight years at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. Alex graduated with a bachelor’s from Louisiana State University.