WSJ/Dow Jones to reorganize editorial and focus more on scoops

Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson sent out the following message to the staff on Thursday:

We have journeyed far together over the past few years, having become the best-selling newspaper in the US, created a global digital platform with more than 60 million different readers each month, and revived Newswires with DJFX Trader, among many, many other accomplishments. Journal and Newswire journalists now frequently share a common space, architecturally and culturally, and have a far clearer sense of shared purpose in an era in which many news organizations are dazed and confused.
Our journey is far from over and we must now begin a new phase of integration, creating a single newsroom that does away with duplication and puts extra emphasis on scoops, thoughtful analysis and deeper reporting. The aim is to fashion an editorial engine that will drive content for all of our platforms, from the print Journal to a real real-time news service and customized digital feeds for specialist readers. For that strategy to be successful, total integration must be our imperative, not to cut costs (though spending, like imbibing, should always be done in moderation), but to make the most of our peerless journalism.
We will be mobilizing joint journalistic teams around particular subjects with a view to dominating those areas, generating more scoops, moving more markets and providing extra time for textured reporting. A team of senior editors will be reaching out to many of you in coming days to solicit opinions and elicit ideas. We will then distil your wisdom (and discard my preconceptions) and move quickly to form new reporting and editing teams to take advantage of the manifold opportunities that await the world’s classiest journalists and the globe’s pre-eminent news organization.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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sallyH says:
October 4, 2012 at 2:52 pm
It will be interesting to see if the company keeps more of the better-paid WSJ reporters who may not write as much (but probably write better thought out stories) or more of the Newswires reporters who churn out tons of material (some of which may not be as well thought out)