POPULAR TOOLS

Murdoch restructures WSJ and sets high digital target

Mon Jun 23 2008, 17:33 PM UTC+01:00

Revenue from Dow Jones' digital operations could shoot up to 75% from 50% in a just a few years, says Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Dow Jones' parent, News Corp. His comments come as the company restructures to become more nimble and efficient.

Among the changes, Dow Jones' Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is creating a new central news desk to coordinate domestic and international reporting between the newspaper and Dow Jones Newswires print and online operations. The company is also promoting three new deputy managing editors who will report to the WSJ's managing editor Robert Thomson, who is also editor in chief of Dow Jones. Matt Murray will become national editor, Nikil Deogun will oversee international news, while Michael Williams will continue overseeing front page news as well as investigative reporting. According to Thomson, the three will form the paper’s hub as part of an effort to streamline and speed up operations that Murdoch has complained about, half joking that every WSJ story goes through 8.3 editors.

Thomson and Murdoch have claimed that the changes, due Jul 7, will not result in wholesale staff departures. However, a number of staff veterans, notably deputy managing editors Bill Grueskin and Laurie Hays, have resigned in recent months.