Great piece, Dick. I loved the culture of the Journal in my 43 years there, even turning down a half dozen job offers from distinguished competitors - some quite lucrative - because the Journal’s culture allowed me and others on the news side to tell it how we saw it and to cover a wide variety of things. Now, I don’t even understand it. (And yes, the edit page has gone from being ideologically conservative to being mostly a mouthpiece for the GOP.)
As a longtime WSJ reporter and editor--now long retired--whose career began when Barney Kilgore was still in charge and regularly making friendly bureau visits (as did editor Vermont Royster, who liked journalists--unlike the current edpage crop), I can only agree wholeheartedly with Dick's appraisal. As for content, I think Roy would be appalled by the current state of the Republican Party and its abandonment of the principles he supported. and the ed page's refusal to call it out.
Thanks so much, Peter. For those readers who don't know, Peter Kann is the former CEO referred to in this piece, who worked at the Journal from 1963-2006, served as publisher from 1988-2002 and as CEO from 1992-2005.
Would like to say that I enjoyed your subject today but it only saddened me to be reminded of the obvious change of culture at the Journal. I feel fortunate to have worked at the paper during what I consider its golden age. Still read it but after the Times.
Another terrific column, Dick. You and I were truly lucky to be there when people like Paul Steiger -- especially Paul Steiger! -- were running the show. As Walt Mossberg points out, the whole culture of the place set it apart!
Great piece, Dick. I was there for 27 years, for which I’m forever grateful. But I’m also grateful I left when I did, a few years before the takeover. Watching the deterioration from inside would have been just too painful.
So deeply troubling, yet so unsurprising. Many of those front page features - the ones with the llama-esque gestation - were so vividly reported that I remember specifics, decades later.
Starting in 2013 there was an ed-in-chief who served for 5 years. In that time, I heard him at an event promoting Trump. Not the definition of someone overseeing an unbiased way to cover the news. Murdoch has played and continues to play, a major role in the demise of journalism. And, of course, in the most simplistic terms, his choice of editors and reporters -- firing and hiring -- makes all this possible
I once was laid off by Dow Jones, and I can't say the process was particularly pleasant even in the Before Times. That said, the company at the time justified cost-cutting because of significant financial headwinds. In contrast, today Dow Jones is making money hand over fist, with the best results since the News Corp acquisition in 2007. Four days after the DC layoffs, News Corp reported earnings: https://newscorp.com/2024/02/07/news-corp-reports-second-quarter-results-for-fiscal-2024/. From the News Corp CEO: "Our net income rose to $183 million from $94 million in the same quarter last year and our reported EPS was 27 cents, compared to 12 cents for the same period last year, driven by a 16% surge in Total Segment EBITDA. We had particularly robust results across the three core pillars of our business – Dow Jones, Book Publishing and Digital Real Estate Services – and believe there are strong prospects for further growth as difficult macro conditions ease in some of our markets."
Nice piece - though the lack of respect for culture is hardly unique to WSJ or journalism. The disconnected brutality of executives and managers infects much of corporate America. Firing by email (or press release) is now normal.
I worked at Dow Jones in Zurich and Frankfurt and loved and respected its culture of being a writer's paper (as opposed to be an editor's realm). I was able to cover the news as I saw it and wasn't required to tow any partisan line. Amongst liberal and lefty friends I proudly displayed my Dow Jones credentials along with my WSJE clips. Among my 'most prouds' were my A-heads. Nice piece Dick.
The Wall Street Journal has always been an anomaly: a brilliant staff of reporters and a fine newspaper burdened with a demented editorial page, but then Rupert Murdoch, and his crew are also an anomaly. No question that Murdoch has a gifted sense for newspapers, which he has for some unexplained reason felt a lifelong compulsion to vulgarize and cheapen. He has taken many a career with him in his inexorable plunge toward the lower depths.
Great piece, Dick. I loved the culture of the Journal in my 43 years there, even turning down a half dozen job offers from distinguished competitors - some quite lucrative - because the Journal’s culture allowed me and others on the news side to tell it how we saw it and to cover a wide variety of things. Now, I don’t even understand it. (And yes, the edit page has gone from being ideologically conservative to being mostly a mouthpiece for the GOP.)
As a longtime WSJ reporter and editor--now long retired--whose career began when Barney Kilgore was still in charge and regularly making friendly bureau visits (as did editor Vermont Royster, who liked journalists--unlike the current edpage crop), I can only agree wholeheartedly with Dick's appraisal. As for content, I think Roy would be appalled by the current state of the Republican Party and its abandonment of the principles he supported. and the ed page's refusal to call it out.
--Robert Keatley
Nicely said dick. P
Thanks so much, Peter. For those readers who don't know, Peter Kann is the former CEO referred to in this piece, who worked at the Journal from 1963-2006, served as publisher from 1988-2002 and as CEO from 1992-2005.
Would like to say that I enjoyed your subject today but it only saddened me to be reminded of the obvious change of culture at the Journal. I feel fortunate to have worked at the paper during what I consider its golden age. Still read it but after the Times.
Another terrific column, Dick. You and I were truly lucky to be there when people like Paul Steiger -- especially Paul Steiger! -- were running the show. As Walt Mossberg points out, the whole culture of the place set it apart!
Excellent point.
What a superb column, right down to the final sentence, which is devastating. Thank you.
Great piece, Dick. I was there for 27 years, for which I’m forever grateful. But I’m also grateful I left when I did, a few years before the takeover. Watching the deterioration from inside would have been just too painful.
Hi Walter. Thanks. And aside from your views on edit page I remain among your fans. Always a great journalist. P
An excellent source of information about Dow Jones is the employee union. This on the layoffs: https://www.iape1096.org/iapework/2024/2/2/dallying-in-davos-devastation-for-dc
And if you or any of your readers want to support the union's campaign to treat employees fairly and protect Dow Jones's place at the pinnacle of American journalism, read here: https://www.iape1096.org/iapework/2024/2/8/iape-members-deserve-a-fair-contract-now
So deeply troubling, yet so unsurprising. Many of those front page features - the ones with the llama-esque gestation - were so vividly reported that I remember specifics, decades later.
Starting in 2013 there was an ed-in-chief who served for 5 years. In that time, I heard him at an event promoting Trump. Not the definition of someone overseeing an unbiased way to cover the news. Murdoch has played and continues to play, a major role in the demise of journalism. And, of course, in the most simplistic terms, his choice of editors and reporters -- firing and hiring -- makes all this possible
I once was laid off by Dow Jones, and I can't say the process was particularly pleasant even in the Before Times. That said, the company at the time justified cost-cutting because of significant financial headwinds. In contrast, today Dow Jones is making money hand over fist, with the best results since the News Corp acquisition in 2007. Four days after the DC layoffs, News Corp reported earnings: https://newscorp.com/2024/02/07/news-corp-reports-second-quarter-results-for-fiscal-2024/. From the News Corp CEO: "Our net income rose to $183 million from $94 million in the same quarter last year and our reported EPS was 27 cents, compared to 12 cents for the same period last year, driven by a 16% surge in Total Segment EBITDA. We had particularly robust results across the three core pillars of our business – Dow Jones, Book Publishing and Digital Real Estate Services – and believe there are strong prospects for further growth as difficult macro conditions ease in some of our markets."
My thought, too. At the same time, this doesn't sound partisan in the sense that Dick mentioned the WSJ in general becoming after the turnover.
Rather, this sounds like an Alden-type move, where Murdoch is looking to milk more money from the Journal to put to use elsewhere.
Nice piece - though the lack of respect for culture is hardly unique to WSJ or journalism. The disconnected brutality of executives and managers infects much of corporate America. Firing by email (or press release) is now normal.
I worked at Dow Jones in Zurich and Frankfurt and loved and respected its culture of being a writer's paper (as opposed to be an editor's realm). I was able to cover the news as I saw it and wasn't required to tow any partisan line. Amongst liberal and lefty friends I proudly displayed my Dow Jones credentials along with my WSJE clips. Among my 'most prouds' were my A-heads. Nice piece Dick.
The Wall Street Journal has always been an anomaly: a brilliant staff of reporters and a fine newspaper burdened with a demented editorial page, but then Rupert Murdoch, and his crew are also an anomaly. No question that Murdoch has a gifted sense for newspapers, which he has for some unexplained reason felt a lifelong compulsion to vulgarize and cheapen. He has taken many a career with him in his inexorable plunge toward the lower depths.