WSJ's enterprise journalism has been stellar recently

Slate media critic Jack Shafer writes that The Wall Street Journal‘s investigative reporting has been stellar in recent weeks, showing that it remains a force to be reckoned with.

Shafer writes, “Stick your hand in your recycling pile for a Journal, and I guarantee you’ll come up with a winner. Among my recent personal favorites is its series “The Fall of Bear Stearns” by Kate Kelly and “Countrywide Friends Got Good Loans,” which ultimately put an end to Jim Johnson’s veep-vetting, by Glenn R. Simpson and James R. Hagerty. Today’s piece by Timothy Aeppel about outsourced manufacturing returning to the United States because of onerous shipping costs reeks of smartness.

“Who knew successful Christers were spreading the gospel with franchise marketing tricks? Alexandra Alter, take a bow. Susanne Craig has been doing strong work on the Lehman Brothers story. Other keepers: Mark Maremont on the big payouts due to CEOs—when they die; Joann S. Lublin on the security bills footed by corporations for their CEOs (I’d love to see this mashed up—extravagant security bills for dead CEOs!); Ethan Smith on the battle inside Live Nation over its “360 deals” with Madonna and Jay-Z; Edward Taylor on Europeans saving money by buying European luxury cars in the United States and shipping them back home; Jesse Drucker on billionaire Philip Anschutz’s “tax strategy”; and Robert A. Guth on the Gates-Ballmer love spat. (I know I’ve missed a ton of great pieces, so forgive me if your favorite isn’t on this short list.)

“Why a sudden Journal renaissance, or at least my perception of a Journal renaissance? Maybe the Journal seems refreshed because the primary wrap-up has largely evicted political news from Page One, and into that vacancy has dropped what I consider the good stuff. Was the good stuff there all the time, but I just wasn’t noticing it?”

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