WSJ's Brauchli may need to hold off Murdoch favorite

Wall Street Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli, who ascended to the top spot earlier this year, may have to fend off a favorite — Robert Thomson of the Sunday Times of London — of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch after the company closes its deal to acquire Dow Jones & Co., the parent of the Journal, writes John Koblin of the New York Observer.

Koblin wrote, “‘No one is sure whether he’ll have a specific job title such as publisher, or whether he’ll be directly focused on The Journal or a Dow Jones division, but Robert will be a player,’ said one Journal editor. ‘He just has too much journalistic experience—financial journalism experience.’

“The editor went on to say, ‘He’ll be involved with Rupert in decisions at The Journal,’ regardless of whether he keeps his editorship at the Times, or moves to New York.

“If that happens, it would be a reunion for two former rivals. In the late 1980’s and early 90’s, both men worked in Tokyo as foreign correspondents, Mr. Brauchli at The Journal, and Mr. Thomson at the Financial Times. Reporters in Tokyo at the time remember them as two aggressive journalists with diametrically opposite personalities.”

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