Wall Street Journal editor in chief Gerard Baker sent out the following to the staff on Thursday:
You will have seen Will Lewis’s note yesterday about pay and gender and racial equality at Dow Jones. As he stated, the company is currently conducting a thorough review of the issue and we expect to have more information soon.
For the newsroom, I want to reiterate and amplify the message Will articulated: insofar as there is any pay inequality, or indeed any disparity of remuneration or opportunity that is ascribable to gender or race, I am personally committed to eliminating it as a matter of urgency. We have the finest journalists in the world and I am anxious to ensure that we reward them properly and equitably. I want Dow Jones to be a workplace that attracts and advances the best individuals of all backgrounds and we should not – and I will not – tolerate any conditions or practices that make that unattainable.
Lewis and Baker are responding to a report from the union representing Dow Jones journalists that women make less than men in similar jobs.