Taking Aim At The NYT, The WSJ Beefs Up New York Coverage

WSJ

The Wall Street Journal will hire a dozen reporters to staff a new New York metro bureau, the NYT reports. The establishment of a New York-focused unit comes a week after the WSJ shuttered its highly regarded Boston bureau, citing the need to cut costs amid the advertising downturn. The formation of the New York metro bureau, which will cover the courts, municipal politics and the state capital, is part of owner Rupert Murdoch’s goal to transform the financial newspaper into a more general-interest publication, where it can challenge the New York Times for advertisers and readers.

One of the first moves in Murdoch’s bid to broaden the WSJ’s scope beyond business and hard news coverage was the introduction of a new luxury section. Since then, the paper has also begun offering more sports coverage, crowding out some of the business news.

While nine people lost their jobs in last week’s closing of the WSJ’s Boston office, a memo signed by the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Robert Thomson said that some of the affected employees could apply for other jobs within the company. It’s not clear whether they’ll be given first crack at the New York bureau openings.

loading

Comments have been disabled for this post