Thomson and the WSJ

Today's New York Times includes a story focused on Robert Thomson, who became publisher of The Wall Street Journal in December.
Thomson, the article states, "has left left a trail of happy reporters in his wake — at The Financial Times and more recently at The Times of London, where the newsroom under his guidance was, in the words of a former colleague, 'the happiest place to work on Fleet Street.'”
But the article points out that Thomson now has his work cut out of him at The Journal. Last Wednesday, he became the de facto editor after the resignation of managing editor Marcus W. Brauchli and replacing the veteran editor is just one of his many challenges at the newspaper.
From the story:

With editors assembled around the table, Mr. Thomson said the paper would not rush to replace Mr. Brauchli, and he assured the group that people who thought the paper was straying from its traditions were misinformed. Then, he said, he offered something no reporter or editor could resist: more space for more words.

Mr. Thomson said that the News Corporation, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch and which bought the newspaper’s parent company, Dow Jones, last year for close to $5 billion, would invest $6 million a year to add four pages for international news.

Adding heft to a paper at a time when cutbacks are the industry norm — The Journal’s advertising revenue, like other newspapers, declined in the first quarter — is a nice start for Mr. Thomson to ease the anxieties of Journal staff members whipsawed by change. But the vagueness of his role — publishers do not typically attend news meetings — has everyone wondering what else he has in store.

For the full story click here.