WSJ’s Baker on going from “newspaper people” to “digital natives”

Emily Tan of Campaign Asia Pacific writes about the changes occurring at The Wall Street Journal under new managing editor Gerard Baker.

Tan writes, “In May, Dow Jones launched DJX, a wire service that gives subscribers a two0minute head start on news broken by The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones reporters. The service, which takes a direct swipe at rival Bloomberg, was a precursor to the merger of Dow Jones Newswires with The WSJ’s newsroom in June.

“‘By bringing the two sides together we ensure we have a stronger product to offer the business consumer, and this also makes us somewhat unique in the media environment in that we have  a B2B newswire an a print [publication],’ Baker said in an interview in the company’s Hong Kong office.

The move also created the impression that it would help the guardians of the WSJ divorce themselves from the print legacy of the 124-year-old title. “We’re all newspaper people, culturally attuned to the rhythms and sensibilities of the traditional newspaper,” Baker said. “But we’ve been trying hard over the past 20 years to have all the characteristics of digital natives — such as Huffington Post and BuzzFeed — although we really are digital immigrants.”

“The ‘single global newsroom’ is a move in that direction, as is the ongoing DJ@DJ (digital journalists at Dow Jones) training programme.”

Read more here.