Tim Sprinkle

The Death of the Wall Street Journal

Vanity Fair has a pretty interesting excerpt from Sarah Ellison's new book, War at the Wall Street Journal, that examines exactly what went down at 200 Liberty Street when Rupert Murdoch moved into the office and began cleaning house. OK, maybe "cleaning house" is a little harsh, as many staffers left without even being asked. But of those who stayed, the transition from old regime to new regime was swift and deliberate ... and went down exactly as many had feared when Murdoch's buyout proposal first went public.

With eerie symbolic symmetry, the very day of [Marcus] Brauchli's (now at the Washington Post) promotion had coincided with the date of Murdoch's $5 billion bid for Dow Jones, the Journal's parent company. An exceedingly public three-month takeover saga followed, with Murdoch eventually reaching a deal—only after signing an agreement with its previous owner of more than a century, the Bancroft family, to protect the paper's editorial independence. Shortly after Murdoch's bid became public, Brauchli confided to a friend, “I work my whole career to get this job, and now I'm working for Murdoch?”

Within a short time, changes at the Journal had already become noticeable. Murdoch's outspoken statements that there were too many editors at the paper—he was amazed that Journal stories were touched “an average of 8.3 times” before appearing in print—heightened existing anxieties about editorial changes and firings. Traditional “leders”—the long, narrative-driven, front-page stories that had been a Journal trademark—were disappearing in favor of shorter news stories. Brevity had become increasingly desirable, as was anything political. Coverage of the presidential primaries dominated the front page of a paper that had made its name with enlightening features on business and the economy.

We already know that Rupert is a pretty cunning businessman and that he's remaking the Journal is his own (or at least The Sun's) image, but I'd be interested to hear what the old-timers on the inside have to say about his influence. We're down to, what, about 6 really high quality papers in this country? 5? At any rate, when something like the Wall Street Journal comes to an end (that we all saw coming and should have been able to stop) it's worth taking a look.

Besides, Ellison spent 10 years at the paper and is now getting locked out of WSJ press conferences, so she must be doing something right.