KEY POINTS:
NEW YORK - Dow Jones has outlined a strategy to differentiate the Wall Street Journal's website from its print edition, shifting breaking news stories online and emphasising analysis in the newspaper.
The newspaper launches a new, slimmer print edition on January 2 that is expected to save Dow Jones US$18 million ($26.5 million) a year, mostly in newsprint expenses. Page width will shrink to 30.5cm from 38cm in a transition first announced in October 2005.
The new size means that the paper will lose one of its six columns, equating to a 10 per cent drop in the "newshole", or the space that papers devote to news.
That will result in tighter reports rather than less coverage, but the newspaper will not forsake longer analytical stories, its executives said yesterday.
"Not punditry, not thumb-sucking, but reporting rich, fact-based coverage," said managing editor Paul Steiger.
The paper will rely more on sibling organisation Dow Jones Newswires for news from press releases or regulatory filings. Dow Jones is a competitor to Reuters, which in October said it would sell its 50 per cent stake in the Factiva news archive service to Dow Jones for US$160 million. Dow Jones owns the other 50 per cent stake.
"That doesn't mean we will get out of the 'what happened' business," Steiger said. "We will squeeze that announcement news into a smaller space."
Routine news will appear on the website throughout the day, part of the company's goal to get readers to see the print and online editions as complementary.
Benchmark analyst Edward Atorino said the Journal was one of the more innovative newspapers. "They are less and less a print company, and more and more involved in content delivery."
The moves highlight changes in the US newspaper business as more readers drop print subscriptions and use the internet to keep track of developments through the day.
Circulation has fallen at most papers, including the Journal, and advertising revenue has been weak in certain sectors as businesses shift ad budgets towards new media.
The Journal's circulation fell 1.9 per cent in the six months to September 30, compared with the same period in 2005, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations data.
Dow Jones did not plan to cut jobs because of the Journal's move.
- REUTERS
