Gawker
After a series of character-sapping changes over the past 10 years, the Wall Street Journal is contemplating yet another makeover, this time of its Marketplace section. Owner Rupert Murdoch is looking to replace many of the columns and feature stories on the front of Marketplace with hard news, the Times reports in tomorrow's paper. Page One has already undergone similar changes. Stories have been shortened. Murdoch is adding some truth to the lie uttered by Charlie Sheen's character Bud Fox in 1980s movie Wall Street: "having sex with her is like reading the Wall Street Journal, 'cept the Journal don't talk back."
When Sheen delivered that line, the Journal actually had plenty of verve and variety, appreciated by loyal readers. But much variety, at least, has been lost over the past ten years, stripped away under the Bancrofts and then Murdoch.
An early casualty was the orphan, a small square in the lower right corner of the Marketplace section that usually carried a very brief, very quirky story.
Then went the topical Column 5, second from the right on the front page, that each day hosted roundups like Washington Wire and Capital (the columns got relocated).
Then the gloriously wide paper narrowed, to five columns from six.
When Murdoch's News Corp. acquired the Journal, Murdoch made clear his intention to make the front page even newsier. Story lengths were trimmed. There has even been talk about diluting or eliminating the storied "A-Hed" feature column in the center of the front page.
With each change, the Journal became more like Pearson's Financial Times, and also more like the television and internet outlets it once set itself apart from with smart "second day" stories.
Meanwhile Murdoch seems intent on preserving the one part of the paper in need of serious reform, the editorial page.
Comments
I really haven't seen the lifestyle elements I was expecting Rupert to add to the WSJ. This is probably because it's totally pointless to read the thing and has been since the 90's. I bet they still quote in eighths.
The WSJ reporters I know would rather write the longer thought pieces, but are getting squeezed by Murdoch's philosophy. Most Wall Streeters I know read the WSJ for news, and the FT for analysis anyway.
This post is not funny.
@ADismalScience: So what is a proper source of news? Bloomberg.com? School me!
@fiveinchtaint:
It depends on what you're looking for. If you want a good idea of what the trade is, you're either taking the temperature on the floor or you're on a fool's errand. Don't use the media (any of them) for investing advice ever. There are too many competing interests out there that will crimp your returns - get a pro.
If you want to read up on the operation of finance and the mechanics involved, the best thing you can usually do is scan the Reuters and Bloomberg wires for stuff that interests you. From there, you collate static data about relevant parties involved and basically stitch your own story together, which takes a bit of experience and ingenuity. You'll be 12 hours ahead of CNBC and days ahead of the WSJ in most cases provided your head is right and you can analyze.
@ADismalScience: Very servicey. Thanks!
@ADismalScience: I just wish I could invest my fortune in Goonies 2. You know it'll destroy at the theaters. Andy? The girl that played her? She's aged very well. I saw her in the DVD. She's got a comeback in her.
But for real, you always have good advice. I absorb it like a sponge, but reply like a dipshit to throw others off the trail.
@ADismalScience: Actually, thanks! That was very good indeed.
@ADismalScience: I don't know if this is still the case, but Yahoo Finance used to do a good job of aggregating all the wire reports (and some other stuff, like MarketWatch and TheStreet) and earnings releases by ticker, to make scanning a bit easier.
Can we, to keep everyone sated, just embed cute Flickr photos of Julia Allison at the margins of stories like these? Best post I've read here in memory. Add to that, I get Dismal...orgy-tastic.
@Larry Bird Flu: No one reads the FT, unless they're European or bored.
@Ryan Tate:
They do okay. I won't go back on that site until they take the Microsoft offer and ditch their slate of columnists. Between Orman, Kiyosaki, and Stein they have by far the most overmatched, out-of-touch bunch on the web providing their color analysis.
A decent RSS-style filtration system is even better - most firms have proprietary equivalents.
@cassandra: Maybe they just think it makes them seem smart. Like people who have copies of the Economist on their coffee tables but it's completely uncreased, and obviously untouched.
@cassandra: Not so! Some of us just have no lives!
@Larry Bird Flu: It is also a pretty shade and compliments most monochromatic beige interiors, while providing a daring counterpoint to black.
@Ryan Tate: You make a compelling case. And all those European, bored people appreciate you for it.
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