Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 10, 2009 at 20:07:23:
Wall Street Journal said to be weighing Chicago edition
The Wall Street Journal is weighing the launch of a Chicago edition, following the New York Times into this market as it has in San Francisco, where editions of both national newspapers feature local coverage.
Les Hinton, chief executive of News Corp.-owned Dow Jones & Co., the Journal's parent, said a meeting with employees Monday that the paper is considering local efforts in Chicago and Los Angeles, in addition to a long-anticipated New York edition, similar to what it introduced last Thursday in Northern California, according to Bloomberg News.
A Dow Jones spokesman said the company wasn't commenting on the Bloomberg report.
The New York Times last month began offering localized content and ads for two pages each Friday and Sunday in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose market. It also has announced plans to begin doing so in Chicago on Nov. 20 with content from the soon-to-launch Chicago News Cooperative.
The Journal launched its San Francisco Bay Area edition last week, complementing local news and event coverage in its "A" section each Thursday with regularly updated information at WSJ.com/SF.
Hinton offered no more details of the possible local sections, according to Bloomberg's sources.
As outlined, however, the strategy is consistent with News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch's far-reaching ambitions for the Journal on the national stage, where it already has the largest paid circulation, according to the most recent figures from the Schaumburg-based Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The Journal's New York move would represent a shot across the bow of the New York Times by offering local content in the market where both it and the Journal are based. The New York Times last week reported the Journal is planning to add a local news staff there to expand beyond its traditional business focus.
And the Journal would seem to be targeting Chicago-based Tribune Co. in a bid to steal advertising share from its two largest papers, the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. A spokesman for Tribune Co., which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since December, declined comment.
Posted at 06:59:51 PM by Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune