Rupert Murdoch plans Wall Street Journal makeover

23 October, 2007:

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is planning to bring the Wall Street Journal into the media mainstream with a mix of subjects such as arts, fashion, culture and the like in an apparent effort to bolster its commercial performance.

British newspaper The Guardian has reported that Rupert Murdoch, who is set to complete his $5-billion (£2.5-billion) takeover of Dow Jones, the publisher of the influential financial newspaper, later in 2007, wants to move the Wall Street Journal “beyond its financial roots and target less specialised competitors such as the New York Times.”

Rupert Murdoch, 76, head of the News Corporation, said: “I want to improve it in every way: in what it does now in finance to start with, but I also want to add more national and international news. I would like to increase the newspaper’s coverage of cultural issues to take advantage of advertising opportunities from the likes of movie studios.”

When Rupert Murdoch was asked at a news conference in San Francisco whether he was aiming to kill the New York Times, he replied: “That would be nice.”

According to The Guardian, the challenge being faced by Murdoch’s News Corporation became clear when Dow Jones revealed a fresh drop in the Wall Street Journal’s advertising revenue.

In its flagship print edition in America, the Wall Street Journal’s income dropped by 2.9% in the third quarter. In terms of volume, the fall was 13.6%.

Dow Jones’s overall quarterly profits dropped by 87% to $13.8 million, affected by one-off tax benefits a year ago and by costs of $12.1 million from stock options and advisory fees related to News Corporation’s offer, said the report in The Guardian.

Dow Jones’s consumer media division, including the Wall Street Journal, made an operating loss of $4.2 million, down from the $18-million deficit a year ago, over the summer quarter.

The Guardian quoted a newspaper analyst as saying that the Wall Street Journal has been “struggling ever since the technology bubble burst.”

Analysts say that, for the Australian-born media mogul, adding the Wall Street Journal to News Corporation is a long-held ambition and that Murdoch may open content to a broader audience by doing away with subscription fees on the paper’s website.