WSJ page one staff could be dissolved

Ryan Tate of Gawker reports that the page one staff of The Wall Street Journal could be cut, with page one editor Mike WIlliams become a roving features editor.

Tate writes, “The Page One desk is responsible, among other things, for the often breezy but always well-researched A-Hed feature, which has been increasingly marginalized as the Journal‘s front page gets newsier. Its disbanding would mark only the latest move by new editor Robert Thomson to remake the Journal in the image of the Financial Times, Thomson’s former employer and a favorite of ultimate Journal overlord Rupert Murdoch.

“In fact, the paper’s old guard is said by our insider to be grumbling that recent FT-like stories, like the front page article on alleged flaws in the Libor benchmark lending rate, are shoving aside ‘stories that appeal beyond the circle of Murdoch’s friends in the global elite.’ But not all veteran editors are suffering under a cluster of changes said to be coming down in the coming days.

“Murdoch-friendly Money & Investing section chief Nik Deogun is said to be poised for promotion to deputy managing editor for foreign coverage. There is also speculation cold-hearted DC bureau chief John Bussey may get a promotion.”

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