The Wall Street Journal's front page has become very political in the four months since Rupert Murdoch took over. Though it isn't news that the WSJ is moving toward a "general news model", the paper is becoming a high-profile paper in the presidential campaign, according to Washington Post writer Howard Kurtz, a step in their goal of challenging the New York Times "for national supremacy."

In his first public comments as WSJ publisher, Robert Thomson, former Editor of Murdoch's Times of London, said, "I think American journalism has some soul-searching to do. American newspapers generally have kept up poorly with change... If there's a presumption that what you might call New York Times journalism is the pinnacle of our profession, the profession is in some difficulty." He adds that Murdoch is "clearly interested in challenging the journalistic establishment."

Thomas also said that Murdoch is willing to pay for expanding foreign coverage. Murdoch has already spent money to expand the news hole and staff, increased space in the paper (the space for political reporting has already doubled), and enlarging the 40-person Washington bureau. The newsroom staff of 750, which is 600 more than two years ago, is predicted to increase modestly this year. "A-heds" or business coverage, long features, and off-beat stories, which the Journal was known for, are now being pushed to the bottom of the page.

Political analyst Charlie Cook says that the Journal is "a less essential read" for campaign junkies, but "the level of political reporting has improved lately."

John Harwood, a CNBC analyst who recently left the Times, says the increased campaign coverage "reflects Murdoch's desire for a newsier paper, and for my former colleagues covering politics, that's a great thing. The question that will get asked over time is, does it erode some of the things that made the Journal great in the first place?"

Murdoch's response? "What sells newspapers is news."

Source: The Washington Post