Wall Street Journal's Top Editor Resigns

Managing Editor Marcus Brauchli Steps Down 4 Months After Paper Was Bought By News Corp.

(AP)  Marcus Brauchli is stepping down as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal four months after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought the paper.

Brauchli had been in the post for just under a year. He will stay on with News Corp. as a consultant, the company said.

A search for Brauchli's replacement will begin immediately.

Murdoch has been moving quickly to reposition the Journal as a competitor to the New York Times, adding more political coverage and reorganizing the paper.

Meanwhile, Murdoch is close to sealing a deal to buy Newsday from Tribune Co. for about $580 million, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

A deal, long rumored to be in the works, would put Long Island, N.Y.-based Newsday, the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal all under Murdoch's News Corp. media conglomerate.

News of a pending deal was reported late Monday by The Journal, which Murdoch bought last December, and Newsday. The Chicago Tribune, Tribune's flagship paper, also had a similar story Tuesday.

The Journal reported that the deal would be structured as a joint venture in which Tribune Co. would retain a stake of less than 5 percent.

Tribune's new CEO Sam Zell indicated on a conference call last week that he was considering selling Newsday and other Tribune assets, a reversal of his original plan to keep Tribune's businesses largely intact.

Zell said he had been approached by several suitors for Newsday and was considering a sale of the paper, one of Tribune's largest, amid a rapid decline in revenues in the past several months.

Tribune added a heavy load of $8.2 billion in debt as part of a going-private transaction that Zell orchestrated and closed last December.

For Murdoch, gaining Newsday would allow News Corp. to greatly pare down persistent losses at the New York Post, partly by combining back-office and production operations.

The Journal cautioned that many details and tax implications were still being worked out and that the deal could still fall apart.

Any deal for Newsday would be sure to face close regulatory scrutiny since Murdoch's News Corp. already owns the New York Post, the Journal and two New York-area television stations.

A News Corp. spokeswoman didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

[gunownerdan]

All the media in the world will be owned by a small handful of billionaires.
But who cares?
There''s plenty of celebrities and sports stars to keep us good and entertained.

[ov442]

"....adding more political coverage and reorganizing the paper. " more political coverage?? -- whatever! jeez o peets, more political hacks brought from Fox to taint the news with outright lies that favor rich and powerful antichrists like murdoch.
Everywhere he influences, loses integrity and decency.

Honestly, the loss of the WSJ to Tabloid news is a serious blow to the history and prestige of a formerly world class financial news source.

[lfitts1]

Under this administration I can''t imagine them having a problem with Murdoch owning all the media outlets--now if he had a different political persuasion....The FTC is really castrated--they jump all over nudity and curses but monopolizing the media outlets--no problem

[gunownerdan]

FCC = Full Corporate Control
of our government.
-AKA- Fascism

[walt1944-2009]

It has been learned that the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal is stepping down just 4 months after the GREEDY information tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, bought the company.

It is rumored that, since no legal firm will touch him, that, as a favor to the Great Emperor Bush II who has allowed Murdoch to buy up as many information properties his deep pockets can buy, Murdoch will hire Alberto "The Great Gonzo" Gonzales to take over at the WSJ as managing editor.

Gonzales, highly excited about his new position, has indicated that he plans on "re-energizing" the paper by showing a cartoon of the Energizer Bunny beating on his drum on the front page of every edition.

Furthermore, Gonzales plans on running features in the paper such as how best to trash the US Constitution legally, how telecommunication companies can continue to snoop on domestic phone calls without a court order or fear of jailtime, and how huge retailers can improve profits by selling "junk" to consumers and get away with it.

There will also be articles by Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, and Rush Limbaugh, and the goddess of the neocons, Anne Coulter.

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!
sig heil, (more of the same) John "McBush" McCain!!!

[inventagod]

More pics of Britney, please...
I keep remembering that nasty Iraq Oil Invasion...

[veteran72]

Faux Nooz Nation. Say it. Repeat it. Believe it.
You have no choice. You must surrender to Neocon Will or be exterminated. It''s just that simple.
So sayeth the Rupert, The Shrub, and the Holy Cheney.

[gkc99]

Little too honest for Rupert More-dork, was he?

Any more blubbering from the Righties about the "left-wing" press will be met with hysterical laughter.

[lochlan-2009]

"Murdoch is close to sealing a deal to buy Newsday from Tribune Co. for about $580 million"

That''s right, give all the media to a single voice, people. Don''t worry if you don''t get the information that conflicts with what he wants the people to know, think, and believe. It is amazing and sad to see what has happened to this country in as short a period as one administration.

[babooph]

I wonder if we will be told that everyone at the Bush wedding can have one every year-all fully paid for by the tax cut for the rich?The fully brainwashed troglites would cheer!!The "old",owners were also silent on such things?

[brianbwb-2009]

All the news that''s print to fit.

[Gary Kempf]

walt1944 at 04:43 PM : Apr 22, 2008
Exceptional post!

[Gary Kempf]

So how is this going to change anything? I doubt the Wall Street Journal is going actually report anything of value or truth.

Rupert Murdock''s newest real life version of Parker Brothers Game of Monopoly endorsed by G.W. Bush

[naucoming4u]

Rupert Murdock''''s newest real life version of Parker Brothers Game of Monopoly endorsed by G.W. Bush

Posted by navpro at 07:17 AM : Apr 23, 2008
..............

True, but I think that Halliburton holds the title for highest rent on the board, just slightly above News Corp.

[bgwinnett]

walt1944: That post of yours is the best I''ve ever read.
Nice one.

[greeneyes222]

Didn''t I see all this in a James Bond movie?

[mcv57]

These top CEOs looking for more power and money. I hope the public knows this is nothing more than media politics and MONEY! Forget about integrity, justice, and duty - that has been sold a long time ago.

[lloydbest1]

"All the news that''''s print to fit." Posted by brianbwb at 06:34 AM : Apr 23, 2008

Another way we can put that is:
"All the news that fits (read: gets past our peculiar political filters) we print"