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In the latest stage of reinvigorating the Wall Street Journal brand, its online edition - WSJ.com - has undergone a huge makeover, relaunching on Tuesday.

The parent company, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., appears determined to put its mark on its latest acquisition; the President of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, Gordon McLeod, reportedly said that the investment into the website revamp is a "big financial commitment."

The Editors Weblog spoke with the Deputy Editor of the Wall Street Journal, Alan Murray, about the shake up occurring at the newspaper. Murray was bullish about the changes, saying, "The new owners have made it clear that they no longer want people to look at the Wall Street Journal as a second read. It should be their primary read, it should suit all their information needs. We want it to be the ultimate news source for our engaged, affluent and educated readers."

Murray went on to speak about the redesign of WSJ.com, the recent changes in newsroom layout and management, and the ambitious plans for the future of the Wall Street Journal brand. He made it clear that, "(The website relaunch) is not a finishing point. This is the launching pad." 

Murray was particularly excited about the relaunch occuring at the same time as the Lehman Brothers story breaking, saying "We are delighted that the biggest financial news story since 1929 happens to coincide with the launch of our revamped site!"

"Newsreel" revolutionizes site navigation
For the new, sleek look of WSJ.com, News Corp's primary design motivation was to take advantage of users who "come in through the side door". Individual article pages mostly found through search engines, have been equipped with multiple navigation tools, to keep readers on the WSJ site.

Arguably the most interesting navigation feature is "Newsreel", essentially a news ticker placed at the top of the article. As the reader browses an article page, Newsreel scrolls through the days most important stories from the section the user is in. For example, if a user is in the business section, the Newsreel displays the top business stories of the day.    

In addition to the new layout and navigation functions, the Journal's newsroom is upping its content production to help keep readers on the site. The redesign also aims to be more colourful with more photos and includes an enhanced video player, an increasingly prevalent aspect of all news websites. Further features are set to roll out over the coming months. 

Social network for the business community
Perhaps most important for the WSJ's new owners is maintaining WSJ.com's impressive online subscription base, which has reached over 1 million paying members. Apart from increasing content, News Corp hopes to hold on to these subscribers with exclusive features such as WSJ Community, a social network for WSJ subscribers.

The key feature of this new social networking tool is that members must use their real names, which is aimed at cutting out any random, anonymous comments or useless noise found on other Internet news sites. Murray believes the quality of the site's subscriber base will create "a higher quality conversation". He acknowledges WSJ.com will not achieve the numbers of a chat on Yahoo Finance but, "we think the usefulness and quality is going to be key". The Journal is considering opening up the Community to non-subscribers in the future, who, just like subscribers, would only be able to join and interact with their real name.

WSJ.com has been the world's most successful subscription newssite for years and its membership keeps growing. According to Murray, online subscriptions have increased 26% in the past two years. And the number of unique user is skyrocketing too: "By our numbers, we now have 17 million visitors to WSJ.com" - 8 million more than two years ago - "and in September it is going to be even bigger than that. Therefore, Murray doesn't see any conflict in bringing more people in and letting them sample WSJ content.


Integrated Newsroom

Murray revealed that the Wall Street Journal is not only undergoing a radical change on its website, but is also changing in its newsroom, "The relaunch coincides with a complete integration and reorganisation of the reporting and editing staff."

Managing Editor, Robert Thomson, has spearheaded the integration programme, which has brought together the online and print staff. Last week, Thomson debuted a news hub in the newsroom where the senior editors from print, online, Dow Jones Newswires and MarketWatch all sit together and co-ordinate the coverage throughout the day.

The morning news meeting has been "totally turned upside down," according to Murray. It now begins with a report from the online team, then from Dow Jones Newswires, then MarketWatch and, only after discussing the coverage for real-time news, do they look at coverage for the day's paper.

The substantial Dow Jones Newswire team is also being moved to make the integration process physical, with the whole team being brought across the river to sit alongside their New York print colleagues. This move will happen, "sometime next Spring" Murray said.

The Wall Street Journal team has been undergoing training to prepare for the integration process. Murray reported, "A simple example is headlines. You have to write a different kind of headline in the online world and in the print world. We will continue to do that kind of training."

The future of the Wall Street Journal

The Editors Weblog asked if this process was the beginning of a long term-reinvigoration process for the Wall Street Journal brand, Murray said: "You bet! We have very ambitious plans for international, we have very ambitious plans for premium products on top of this online platform and we have a whole schedule of online innovations that we are planning over the course of the next 18 months. This is just the beginning"

"Look for us forming closer links with all the social networks because we are not trying to compete with social networks, we want to make it as easy as possible for our users to share our content over social networks and to bring their friends and connection into our community"

Murray also added that News Corp is confident about the future of print, stating, "The Wall Street Journal under its new management is investing in both print and online, so I would say we are very optimistic about the future of newspapers. We may be the only people who are optimistic! We are dedicated to delivering our news on all platforms"

Source: Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, paidcontent.org

See also:

US: Murdoch on the future of newspapers
US: Wall Street Journal to launch new website on Tuesday
Wall Street Journal unveils magazine supplement, WSJ
US: Wall Street Journal launches new mobile application
Murdoch: Newspapers willing to invest in new forms of delivery will prosper

Google has announced last Wednesday the launch of its Knol feature, a website dedicated to providing user-generated articles on a range of topics, similar to Wikipedia. 

Jack Schofield, a Guardian blogger, warned that Knol may harm the media industry since writers not only have the chance to sidestep editors but also be able to earn money from the ad revenues on their pages.



A "knol" or a "unit of knowledge" will offer articles on a wide range of topics, written by experts on those subjects. Individual knols will be treated like web pages, indexed in Google's search engine.

"The ultimate goal is: we want to improve search," said Cedric Dupont, Knol product manager.

The difference between Knol and Wikipedia is that the latter has anonymous articles that are edited a multitude of times, reported the Guardian. Knols stress authorship, according to Dupont.

Knols may be edited if the author opts for the "moderated-collaboration" mode, but he or she has the right to chose what changes may be made, reported ZDNet UK.

Google partnered with the New Yorker magazine to let authors add cartoons from the publication to their knolls, ZDNet UK wrote.

Source: CyberJournalist.net, The Guardian, ZDNet UK

Lemonde.fr organized an online chat with French new media and technology specialist Francis Pisani. The expert gave his views on multiple topics, including the future of the mobile Web, anonymity online, social networks, and the public's fear of a Big Brother digital society.

The following is an edited and translated version of what can be found on Le Monde's site.

Nowadays, massive social networks are becoming the norm on the Web. Will this continue or will there be new social networks that are smaller and more localized?

Both coexist and will continue to do so. I find the concept of the website ning.com very interesting. Instead of putting users in a global social network, it enables users to create micro networks.

Is anonymity online a defunct notion?

It's hard to say. Personally I think the possibility of being anonymous should be preserved, but the most important thing is to have direct control over information about us. This means that users should be able to know what kind of data a website has about them, and users should be given the possibility to destroy that data or migrate it to another site.

What are the trends for blogs in the future?

I think blogs will evolve in two directions: the 'old' one, which entails publishing postings in a Wiki-type database, which can be searched independently of chronology and categories.
But today Twitter, Friendfeed and others are showing us the good things of being able to include conversations, in which the predominant role of bloggers is minimized.

How will the development of the mobile Web influence the way we use the Internet?

There are two big notions at play: the importance of location, and the highly specialized technologies necessary to understand the context around one's location.

This essentially means that once we will have these technologies, content providers (journalists, TV stations, institutions...) will have to provide content adapted to these circumstances.

We will also have to adapt to a new preset: the fact that we are becoming more and more nomadic.

Which mobile format do you think is most promising for news and information? Cell phones like the iPhone, e-books like Kindle, video game consoles like the PSP?

I would add a fourth category, UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PC), a format that is starting to seriously grow in Asia, and that we will probably see in the US and European markets very soon.

At this point, I can't say which of these forms will win. In fact, the increasing number of these machines should enable a large number of people to choose whichever format is convenient for them.

Source: Lemonde.fr

Last week, journalists Anne Stine Saether and Anders Sooth Knutsen from Norway's VG's online arm were awarded with the Skup-diploma, an investigative prize, for developing the newspaper's biggest multimedia project ever.

The idea for the online project about domestic killings in Norway was born in mid-2007 after a murder case that had been buried in the back pages of the paper. It took six months to complete, but on, Nov. 12 the front page of VG's print edition featured portraits of women killed by their men. The story was planned and executed on all platforms simultaneously, and included online blogs, articles, chats, and video interviews with some of the murderers, next of kin, psychologists, and others.

For the project, VG took on the task of extensively researching anonymous homicide statistics, using all the archives and registers they could access for the multi-media project.

"The idea for the project came as a result of my own anger and feeling of impotence half a year ago. Yet another woman had been murdered and the story was buried far back in the newspaper, I thought, dammit, this happens all the time, which lead to the idea to spray the front page with the faces of women who'd suffered such a fate," said Kjersti Sortland, the managing editor of the award-winning journalists.

The project took half-a-year to finish, but the completed coverage was "groundbreaking" and "led to a change in how murders are reported in Norway," according to Online Journalism Scandinavia's Kristine Lowe.

The Norwegian government plans to map domestic murders, and starting in 2007, the Norwegian police had began to register the relationship between the murderer and victim in their reports.

"In contrast to other countries, we did not know how many women were killed by their husbands, partners and boyfriends in Norway," said the jury who awarded the prize.

Source: Journalism.co.uk (photo)

French daily Le Monde chose to publish today a letter signed by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, former fashion model and newly-wed spouse of President Nicolas Sarkozy. In the letter, Bruni-Sarkozy does nothing less than give a lesson of ethics to the journalistic profession.

Brief reminder of facts: at the beginning of February, Nouvel Observateur journalist Airy Routier published online a loosely substantiated story about a text message supposedly sent by Sarkozy to his ex-wife, a few days before his wedding with Bruni.

Subsequently, Sarkozy prosecuted the NouvelObs.com. Routier, who at first defended his source and the validity of the story, had to later admit that he had never actually seen the text message, and just recently sent an official letter to apologize to Bruni-Sarkozy. The president in turn dropped his complaint.

According to Bruni-Sarkozy's letter in Le Monde, the story of the text message, which can still be found on the publication's website, highlighted the ethical slips of modern journalism: "what's dishonest and worrisome in this episode is the fact that at no point the "news" was verified, corroborated, validated."

"Even if the rumor had been founded, it would have been by chance, the result of a vague indiscretion, hearsay, and not the result of a rigorous investigation."

"If, from now on, rumor is used for news, if fantasies are used as scoops, where are we going towards?"

Importantly, Nouvel Obs is traditionally considered to be a quality weekly publication, far removed from tabloids and other fast-news titles.

It's obvious that the decision to publish the story, which was later condemned by the Nouvel Obs' director, revealed insufficient editorial oversight. It may also have been representative of modern trends in journalism, which put increasing importance on speedy online publication and 'crisp' content.

Granted, as pointed out by Bruni-Sarkozy, the Nouvel Obs' website failed to adhere to its chart of ethics, which states that "rumors must be banned, anonymous citations avoided and sources indicated as precisely as possible (...) should be published only news for which the source is known."

Does this justify the fact that France's presidential spouse publishes a letter condemning the press in one of the most referential national titles?

As pointed out by a commenter to the story, "I regret reading this even more than reading the story on the Nouvel Observateur." For him, this only plays into the rise of the cult of celebrity and tabloid content within the quality press.

Feel free to give us your thoughts.

Source: Le Monde (link in French)

A free newspaper aimed at Israel's Ultra-Orthodox community launched yesterday. The 16-page Yom Hadash will be distributed from Sunday to Thursday to compete with other existing ultra-orthodox papers.

Media analysts, however, have expressed doubts about the paper's ability to stay afloat in a media-saturated market, reports Haaretz.

The paper's religious affiliation is declared openly on the front page: "a newspaper for all Haredi public." Yom Hadash was created as an antidote to what its editors view as partisan reporting against certain rabbis in other ultra-Orthodox dailies such Yated Ne'eman.

The investors in the paper have chosen to remain anonymous, as have many of its contributing journalists.

Source: Haaretz

What better way for editors to know about journalists' concerns than with a website that collects their criticisms about newsroom management, new media and old media, and more?

That's why journalist Kiyoshi Martinez launched AngryJournalist.com, "a gripe board where journalists are asked to say what's making them angry today," reported Steve Outing of Editor & Publisher.

AngryJournalist gives "angry journalists a place to vent, and to let them know they're not alone," Martinez said.

All posts to the site are anonymous, which makes it easier for journalists to voice their concerns. All comments are screened through Martinez. Editors and managers now have a new resource, an online and collective suggestion box.


Outing listed some of the main issues that currently appear on the site:

-         Journalists frustrated by upper management and are looking for better leadership, especially in light of newspapers' transition towards the digital age. Many journalists feel that their superiors lack the vision and technical knowledge necessary.

-         Persistence of the new and old media disconnect. "The reporters don't understand the Internet department and the Internet department doesn't understand reporters. The worst part -- some of them aren't even trying. These debates are important; no one has the answers yet," read one of the comments.

-         Criticism of journalism schools and professors that haven't adapted to new media. "Complaints from college journalists seem to come from the fact that they're being taught about the past, not the future of the news business, by professors who haven't realized the full effect of the Internet's dynamic effect on news consumption," said Martinez.

-         Fear of or resistance against citizen journalism.

A few journalists have criticized the website for letting people post anonymously, which seems contrary to journalistic standards. In any case, AngryJournalist.com should quickly become a valuable resource for editors and managers.

Source: Editor & Publisher

Newly-launched Moroccan daily Soir Echos is carving its place in the landscape of independent francophone dailies and recruiting some of the best francophone writers available.

Soir Echos was launched by the Al Massae Group mid-February. Al Massae director Rachid Nini succeeded in recruiting former TelQuel reporter Driss Bennani to become editor of the paper, as well as leading journalists Khalid Tritki and Hakima el Mariky.

Despite its ties with the Al Massae group, Soir Echos is independent from the Arabic edition of Al Massae.

"The newspaper mostly covers national politics, with considerable emphasis on the Islamists who made the front page twice in four days. Basically, it doesn't seek information, but rather comments on information provided by other publications one or two days beforehand,”said a Moroccan media personality who wanted to remain anonymous, reported the Arab Press Network.

Soir Echos, published in a Berliner format, counts about twenty pages and a daily economics supplement. Its circulation is 21,000 copies.

Source: Arab Press Network

The Press Gazette published a two-part exclusive written by Nick Davies about his new book and a study that found that most newspaper stories in the UK are based on Press Association (PA) content.

The research was carried out by Cardiff University’s journalism department for a controversial book written by Guardian journalist Nick Davies.

According to the research, about 80% of news stories in quality UK national newspapers are at least partly made up of recycled newswire or PR copy. This percentage is extremely high, but note the vague meaning of “partly made up of recycled newswire.”

“I believe PA is honest in intent, efficient in performance and cost-effective as a business – and entirely inadequate for the role in which it has now been cast,” wrote Davies.

Many regional and national titles have had to go through staff cutbacks, and the coverage has usually been substituted with PA content. But according to Davies, the accuracy of this content isn’t systematically double-checked:

“Apart from the fact that PA reporters have so little chance to check their material, this churnalism in PA is built on a foundation which crucially – and generally unrecognised in Fleet Street – is inherently weak on the truth. PA is a news agency, not a newspaper.”

PA responded to Davies’ criticisms with the following statement:

"The Press Association’s wire service has a long-standing reputation for its integrity, fast, fair and accurate reporting. We do not recognise Nick Davies's characterisation of our journalism.

"Much of his criticism is anonymously sourced - something we strive to avoid. We will continue to provide accurately sourced journalism and honour the trust which our customers clearly have in us.

"We are happy for our customers to be the judge of our performance."

Any thoughts about your own outlet’s relation with the news agency or agencies it relies upon?

Source: Press Gazette

Tim Bowdler, one of UK’s most respected press chief executives, CEO of Johnston Press, agreed to release an exclusive statement for the Weblog about his outlook on the future of the industry. In the following, he both acknowledges the realities of decreasing sales and debunks excessively gloomy forecasts.

Li Changqing, a Chinese journalist who was imprisoned for alerting the public to an outbreak of dengue fever before the authorities, has been awarded the 2008 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of
the World Association of Newspapers.

Many recent examples have proven that there has been a shift in power from professional reporters to the readers and audience and ethics are certainly a concern in this shift.