WSJ planning San Francisco edition

Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times writes that The Wall Street Journal is planning a San Francisco Edition. The Times is doing the same.

Perez-Pena writes, “Paul Bascobert, the chief marketing officer of Dow Jones Consumer Media Group, the unit of the News Corporation that includes The Journal, said a San Francisco edition was ‘definitely something we’re considering; we’re looking at probably later this year.’

“‘It’s a highly educated, internationally minded audience, and our research out there shows there’s a market need for a quality news product,’ he said.

“He and other Dow Jones executives declined to discuss specifics about the edition, and The Times would not comment on its plans. The Journal’s plans were described by people who had been briefed on them and were granted anonymity to discuss the confidential project.

“The Journal expects to start its San Francisco edition in November or December, adding a page or two of general-interest news from California, probably once a week, produced by the large staff it already has in the Bay Area. This is different from previous efforts by The Journal to publish regional editions, which had focused on local business news. The paper, based in New York, is also looking into creating a New York edition, with emphasis on adding coverage of the arts, but that plan is not as fully developed.”

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