War at the Wall Street Journal (41 page)

My description of the day Brauchli learned that News Corp. wasn't happy with his editorship is based on interviews with current and former News Corp. employees as well as several editors at the
Journal.

The details of the duties and compensation for Dow Jones's editorial committee were outlined in "Meet the Editorial Committee: Our Task Under the News Corp.-Dow Jones Merger Agreement,"
Wall Street Journal,
December 14, 2007; and "Text of Dow Jones Editorial Agreement,"
Wall Street Journal,
August 1, 2007.

 

C
HAPTER
21

My description of Robert Thomson's round of discussions with the
Journal
newsroom after Brauchli resigned is based on interviews with current and former
Journal
reporters as well as some press coverage at the time, including John Koblin, "Hands Still Wringing at Journal as Robert 'Head of Content' Thomson Takes Reins,"
New York Observer,
May 6, 2008.

Thomson's view of the
Journal
was relayed to me by several people familiar with his thinking.

Gawker's coverage of Thomson's meeting with the
Journal's
"Money & Investing" section appeared as "Civil War at the Wall Street Journal" by Nick Denton, Gawker, April 30, 2008.

Thomson's interactions with Bill Grueskin were relayed to me by Grueskin.

Dow Jones's campaign to boost circulation to coincide with Murdoch's take-over was described to me by a former Dow Jones executive, who said, "It was a plan to create artificial success ... This is exactly what we planned to happen. What you don't see is how much marketing money is spent to get there."

 

C
HAPTER
22

Thomson's appointment as managing editor of the
Journal
was widely reported and outlined in "Statement on New WSJ Editor,"
Wall Street Journal,
May 20, 2008.

The speculation about who would take over the
Journal
newsroom appeared in a number of publications, including "Rupe Melding with UK Tabloid Editor?" Mediabistro.com, May 19, 2008.

Thomson's characterization of the
New York Times
as "sanctimony central" and his statement that the paper was full of "preening, posturing, and pretentiousness" were relayed to me by a number of
Journal
bureau chiefs present for his presentation to them at the bureau chiefs' meeting in January 2008.

Thomson's statement to a group of
Journal
reporters that editors should not stay in their jobs too long was relayed to me by a
Journal
reporter who heard the statement directly from Thomson.

Murdoch's assertion that the stories in the
Journal
were edited a "ridiculous" number of times was made publicly at the D: All Things Digital conference in May 2008,
http://d6.allthingsd.com/20080529/video-rupert-murdoch-on-politics-obama-and-mccain/
.

 

C
HAPTER
23

The
Journal
's story that declared that the "American financial system was shaken to its core" appeared under the headline "Crisis on Wall Street as Lehman Totters, Merrill Is Sold, AIG Seeks to Raise Cash" by Carrick Mollenkamp, Susanne Craig, Serena Ng, and Aaron Lucchetti, September 15, 2008.

The
Journal
's history of rarely using banner headlines was relayed to me by Robert Christie, vice president for communications at Dow Jones.

Murdoch relayed his excitement about sitting in on the
Journal
's news meeting in September 2008 in an interview I conducted with him on November 10, 2008.

Reporters' quips about the disorganization of the
Journal
newsroom after News Corp.'s takeover and the new incentives News Corp. instituted in the newsroom come from interviews with current
Journal
reporters.

Ivanka Trump's comments to Thomson about the
Journal's
front page were relayed to me by several eyewitnesses.

The
Columbia Journalism Review's
assessment of the
Journal's
performance during the financial crisis appeared under the headline "In the Crisis, the
Journal
Falls Short: The Newspaper Is Missing the Moment," by Dean Starkman, December 24, 2008.

Thomson's announcement of his senior deputy Gerard Baker was widely noted in the press. His e-mail announcing the appointment appeared as "WSJ Announces Editorial Leadership Changes," PoynterOnline, June 19, 2008,
http://www.poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13417
.

My account of a
Journal
editor's frustration with still being "on probation" with Thomson came from an interview with that editor.

Robert Thomson's memo to Dow Jones's reporters urging cooperation between the
Journal
and Newswires was sent as an e-mail to Dow Jones reporters and was picked up by Talking Biz News, "WSJ ME Thomson: Reporters Will Be Judged on Whether They Break News," by Chris Roush, March 19, 2009.

The coverage of Thomson's memo linked several reporters' departures to the changes News Corp. had instituted at the
Journal,
including Jeff Bercovici, "'Historic' Memo Leaves Feathers Ruffled at 'WSJ,'" Portfolio.com, March 24, 2009.

Josh Prager's goodbye e-mail was picked up by a number of outlets, including Politico.com: Michael Calderone, "Prager Leaves Journal: 'The paper and I were no longer a good fit,'" April 3, 2009.

Gerard Baker's comments about the Pulitzer committee were relayed to me by several reporters with whom Baker spoke directly.

 

E
PILOGUE

Joseph Nocera's comments about the
Journal
originally appeared in an online column in the
New York Times
on August 29, 2008.

Various commentators voiced their impressions of the
Journal
in a piece by Scott Sherman in the May 11, 2009, issue of the
Nation
entitled "Has the 'Journal' Lost Its Soul?"

Robert Thomson's comments about the
Journal
and the
New York Times
initially appeared in a July 3, 2008, interview with
BusinessWeek,
"The Wall Street Journalist," by Jon Fine.

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