WSJ reducing “What’s News” on front page to one column

Azi Paybarah and Joe Pompeo of Capital New York write about a redesign at The Wall Street Journal that includes reducing the “What’s News” feature on the front page to one column.

Paybarah and Pompeo write, “Top Journal employees first learned on a conference call earlier this week that the daily “What’s News” box, long an A1 institution, will shrink from two columns to one, according to multiple sources familiar with the decision.

“The ‘What’s News’ box runs the length of the front page, along the left, and gives thumbnail sketches of articles in the day’s paper (and sometimes news briefs that aren’t further covered inside, like today’s entry on the death of actress Karen Black). The feature bullet-points key stories in two categories: ‘Business & Finance’ and ‘World-Wide.’ At the bottom of the box is a ‘Vital Signs’ graphic that gives readers a bit of visual data-candy after they’ve rolled their eyes past all that text.

“A Journal spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the change.

“‘I have no comment,’ she said.”

Read more here.