WSJ publisher: We're investing in the paper

Nat Ives of Advertising Age interviewed Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton about the future prospects of the paper.

Ives writes, “Despite its impressive market position, the Bancrofts had not given the Journal the resources it deserved, according to Mr. Hinton. ‘The paper had been insufficiently supported,’ he said. ‘For us it’s getting across the message that we are — at a time when everyone else is pulling back — that we are in fact investing in the newspaper. Because we think there’s real opportunity there.’

“The closest prospects include WSJ, the glossy magazine in final development ahead of a Sept. 6 debut. The website will undergo a serious relaunch this fall. And international expansion from China to Eastern Europe looks choice to the new owners. ‘The thing all these places have in common,’ Mr. Hinton said, ‘is the need for intelligent, trusted information on which they can act.’

“Observers even ask whether ‘Wall Street’ might fall from the Journal’s name at some point as its horizons widen. ‘That has been speculated about but never been discussed in this building,’ Mr. Hinton said. ‘It’s never been discussed.'”

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