Tag Archives: Dow Jones & Co.
New wealth management news editor named at Dow Jones
by Chris Roush
Kevin Noblet, the managing editor of wealth management coverage at Dow Jones Newswires, made the following staff announcement on Tuesday:
I’m delighted to announce that Patrick Graham is joining the wealth management team as its news editor.
Patrick joined Dow Jones in 2001 as a copy editor on the Newswires Enterprise Desk, which merged with the Global Desk in 2008 to create Americas Copy Desk. During the past four years, he has worked both as an assignment editor in the copy desk’s breaking news, markets and features slots as well as a rim editor.
Before joining Dow Jones, he spent more than five years with the Associated Press covering general news and politics in Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey and South America. Patrick began his journalism career in Virginia covering state politics. He graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in history. He lives in Yonkers, N.Y., with his wife, Vera, and son.
Please join me in welcoming Patrick, whose new assignment starts next week.
The data-driven expansion of WSJ parent Dow Jones
by Chris Roush
Alex Klein of The Daily Beast writes about how new Dow Jones & Co. CEO Lex Fenwick, previously at Bloomberg, is expanding the Wall Street Journal parent’s data offerings.
Klein writes, “He has started a new division, Data Strategy, which according to a Dow Jones internal memo will funnel data to business and institutional customers. According to one executive, Fenwick has even started ‘tearing the doors off offices,’ creating the kind of open workspace environment Bloomberg is known for.
“Ashley Huston, Dow Jones’s vice president for communications, declined to comment on the Dow Jones leadership transition or News Corp.’s strategy.
“Murdoch is widely known to have newspapers in his DNA, and analysts have speculated he was forced to split the company by anxious investors. But if the publishing division has any hope for survival on its own, Murdoch might be forced to take the bitter pill of reinventing that side of the business to compete better with his data-focused competitors. In 2011, Bloomberg controlled roughly 30 percent of the $16 billion financial-data market, according to Burton-Taylor. Thomson Reuters took a close second, at 30.05 percent, and Dow Jones, a distant third, with 1.6 percent.”
Read more here.
Dow Jones FX Trader makes promotions
by Chris Roush
Gabriella Stern, the managing editor of the Dow Jonex FX Trader, made the following staff promotion announcement on Monday:
We are delighted to announce changes in Europe’s FX, economics, policy and credit leadership team under Managing Editor Jenny Paris. They are designed to add depth and draw clear areas of expertise in guiding European coverage as the sovereign debt crisis enters (yet another) phase.
Geoffrey Smith and Katie Martin are promoted to assistant managing editors. Assistant Managing Editor Paul Hannon will deputize for Jenny in her absence. All three will continue to be based in London.
–Geoff Smith: As Assistant Managing Editor, succeeding Jenny, Geoff will help manage euro-zone coverage with a particular focus on monetary and regulatory policies. In his new role, Geoff will supervise the Frankfurt-based reporters covering the European Central Bank.
A Dow Jones veteran of nearly 19 years (save for a brief investment banking gig), Geoff is no stranger to the ECB. He reported on the central bank for nearly two years until early 2011, when he moved back to London as a senior reporter covering economics and financial regulation. Before that, Geoff held several management positions, including five years as Moscow bureau chief, and stints as an assistant news editor for energy coverage in London and as Vienna bureau chief. Geoff joined Dow Jones in 1993 as a Bundesbank and capital markets reporter in Germany.
–Katie Martin: Katie, who has been news editor for FX for the past 18 months, is promoted to Assistant Managing Editor, FX & Fixed Income Markets. Katie will continue leading the London FX team while now also managing sovereign and corporate bond coverage. Fixed Income News Editor Carol Dean will report to Katie.
Katie joined Dow Jones eight years ago as an FX reporter, distinguishing herself with her deep knowledge of the industry and its key players; she has emerged as a crucial driving force behind our FX coverage in the region. She previously worked at Euromoney.
–Paul Hannon: Paul will assist Jenny in guiding coverage in Europe, the Middle East & Africa. He will continue to be in charge of all macroeconomics coverage and manage the U.K. economics team and the Dublin bureau; his duties will expand to include supervision of our newly minted Israel bureau. Paul will continue to look at Central & Eastern Europe FX, macro and policy coverage, working closely with that area’s managing editor, Anita Greil.
Paul has been instrumental in regional economics coverage (including re-engineering EconApp). As the crisis deepens, covering Europe’s stumbling economy will remain a top priority under Paul’s guidance.
Please join us in congratulating Geoff, Katie and Paul in their new and revamped roles.
Dow Jones sells career services website
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, has sold FINS.com, a career services website launched in 2009, to Dice Holdings, for an undisclosed amount, resulting in a number of layoffs, reports Joe Pompeo of Capital New York.
Pompeo writes, “A Dow Jones spokesperson confirmed the layoffs and said that the affected employees would have the opportunity to apply for other jobs within Dow Jones, which is owned by News Corp. and also publishes The Wall Street Journal.
“The FINS.com sale was first reported by the Dow Jones newswire late Friday afternoon.
“According to a news release, Dow Jones has also entered into ‘an exclusive partnership’ with Dice Holdings, which owns other specialized career websites, ‘to provide and operate the online career centers for WSJ.com and MarketWatch.com in the United States.’
“The news comes a day after News Corp. announced a plan to split its entertainment and publishing assets into two separate companies.”
Read more here.
If News Corp. splits, does that mean layoffs or hiring freeze at WSJ?
by Chris Roush
Lucia Moses of Adweek examines the ramifications of the print media within News Corp., including The Wall Street Journal, if the company splits in half.
Moses writes, “For now, attention has focused on the increased financial pressure its newspapers will likely face as a stand-alone operation without the benefit of the funds its entertainment business can pour into them.
“Already, layoff jitters are spreading throughout the print business, which includes the vaunted Wall Street Journal plus papers in the U.K. and Australia, where properties are already preparing for cuts.
“There’s a lot of worry about that because all the publishing assets have been protected’ by the rest of the company, one Dow Jones staffer fretted.
“Journal parent Dow Jones & Co., under new CEO Lex Fenwick, has already started trimming. Just days ago it announced it would fold SmartMoney, the 20-year-old personal finance magazine, and expand the brand digitally, cutting 25 people in the process.”
Read more here. Talking Biz News heard Wednesday from one Dow Jones editorial staffer who said that there are discussions among the staff abouut the potential for a hiring freeze if the split occurs.
Reuters, WSJ, Milwaukee and Detroit papers among Loeb winners
by Chris Roush
Felix Salmon of Reuters and The Wall Street Journal are winners of Gerald Loeb Awards, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of business journalism.
Salmon won in the blogging category. Reuters also won in the news service category for “Shell Games” by Brian Grow, Kelly Carr, Laurence Fletcher, Nanette Byrnes, Matthew Bigg, Joshua Schneyer, Cynthia Johnston and Sara Ledwith.
Mark Maremont, Tom McGinty, Jon Keegan, Palani Kumanan, Sarah Slobin and Neil King Jr. were the team at the Journal who won for “Jet Tracker” in the online enterprise category.
Walter Isaacson won in the book category for his Steve Jobs biography. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received an honorable mention in the book category for “Poor Economics.”
Brent Snavely, Greg Gardner and Chrissie Thompson for “GM-UAW Contract Negotiations” in Detroit Free Press won in the breaking news category.
In medium and small newspapers, there were two winners: Raquel Rutledge, Rick Barrett, John Diedrich, Ben Poston and Mike de Sisti for “Shattered Trust” in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Spencer Soper and Scott Kraus for “Inside Amazon’s Warehouse” in The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.
The Journal Sentinel’s John Fauber won in the beat reporting category for “‘Side Effects’ Beat Reporting.“
Peter Elkind, Jennifer Reingold and Doris Burke won the Loeb in the magazine category for “Inside Pfizer’s Palace Coup” in Fortune.
Penelope Wang, Kim Clark and Lisa Gibbs won the Loeb in the personal finance category for “‘Protecting Your Parents’ Series“ in Money.
Zanny Minton Beddoes, Edward Carr, John Peet, Patrick Foulis and John O’Sullivan won the Loeb in the commentary category for “Euro Zone” in The Economist.
In the broadcast enterprise category, the winner is Laura Sydell and Alex Blumberg for “When Patents Attack,” a collaboration between NPR and This American Life.
“60 Minutes” won in the explanatory category, while Ken Bensinger for “Wheels of Fortune” in the Los Angeles Times won in the large newspaper category.
The awards are being handed out at a dinner in New York, and this prestigious award program recognizes and honors journalists who have made significant contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy.
Smart Money to halt print publication
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co. plans to stop publishing the print version of SmartMoney, a personal finance magazine, although it will expand its digital platform, according to two people familiar with the matter, reports John Jannarone and William Launder of The Wall Street Journal.
Jannarone and Launder write, “Layoffs are expected, but the number of positions to be eliminated is unclear, one of these people said. An official announcement could come as soon as Thursday.”
Read more here.
In an e-mail to the Journal staff obtained by Talking Biz News, managing editor Robert Thomson wrote, “Our colleagues at SmartMoney magazine have done extraordinary work during the past two decades and we should laud their contribution to the company and to journalism generally. Our SmartMoney web operation will be expanded and provide opportunities for some who will be affected by the closure of the magazine, as will other just-approved expansion plans for the print Journal.”
SmartMoney has struggled more than the other personal finance magazines. In the first quarter of this year, it had a 19.3 percent decline in ad revenue to $6.9 million and a 23.4 percent drop in ad pages to 67.42. Money magazine had a 9.3 percent decline in ad revenue to $20.8 million and a 13.7 percent decline in ad pages to 91.79. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance recorded a 30.9 percent drop in ad revenue to $3.7 million and a 33.8 percent drop in ad pages to 53.93.
The worst-performing business magazine in 2011 was SmartMoney. It reported a 12.9 percent drop in ad revenue to $32.7 million and a 17.4 percent decline in ad pages to 338.18.
In an e-mail to Talking Biz News Thursday afternoo, editor in chief Jonathan Dahl wrote, “I’m exploring options both in and outside the company. This was obviously disappointing but we had a fun, and fairly long run.”
Here is Talking Biz News’ interview with SmartMoney editor Dahl from December. Ironically, Dow Jones acquired Hearst’s remaining 50 percent interest in the magazine in 2010. The magazine won three National Magazine Awards and was a finalist 14 times.
Here is the bulk of the official announcement:
As part of the transition, the print edition of SmartMoney will cease production this summer, and the magazine’s September issue, on newsstands August 14, will be the final issue.
To expand the brand’s digital reach, the editorial staff of SmartMoney.com will increase to 15, including six new editorial staff positions. The New York-based team will report to Raju Narisetti, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
Approximately 25 staff positions for the print edition are being impacted as part of the print magazine’s closing, with those affected eligible to re-apply for open positions with SmartMoney.com and other openings within the company.
“SmartMoney has led the way in personal finance coverage for 20 years. It has been honored with many awards and provided intelligent, objective analysis and guidance for readers in print and online. It’s clear that the volatility of markets and asset classes has increased the need for rapid delivery of personal finance intelligence, so we will be expanding our team and presence on the web,” said Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. “The team should be extremely proud of what it has achieved and be excited by the prospect of what it will achieve.”
“I am proud of the exceptional journalism that the hard-working and talented staff of SmartMoney has produced in recent years and am grateful to the Journal, and to Robert Thomson specifically, for providing us the opportunity to produce it,” said Jonathan Dahl, editor-in-chief of SmartMoney. “I look forward to seeing SmartMoney’s legacy continue at SmartMoney.com.”
In addition to SmartMoney.com, all content and tools from the site will be available on an expanded co-branded personal finance section on MarketWatch.com. This move also extends the digital reach of the SmartMoney brand to MarketWatch’s nearly 17 million monthly visitors from SmartMoney.com’s 2.5 million monthly visitors.
Dow Jones names new executive leadership team
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co.‘s new executive leadership team was announced Tuesday by Chief Executive Officer Lex Fenwick in the wake of the resignation by president Todd Larsen.
Fenwick also hinted at new products from the company coming soon.
Alisa Bowen, currently general manager of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, has been promoted to head of product for Dow Jones. In this role, she will oversee the company’s continued innovation with an integrated product group comprising both consumer and enterprise businesses.
Bowen’s appointment emphasizes the company’s commitment to The Wall Street Journal franchise, in particular investment in print, as well as expansion of online, mobile and video initiatives, and the company’s suite of institutional products, including Factiva. She will also oversee the company’s growing conference business.
Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Journal, said in a statement, “Our investment plans for The Wall Street Journal newspaper will become clearer in coming days, and we will certainly be expanding our news network globally, on other platforms and in other languages.
“There is no doubt that we have the pre-eminent journalistic team in the U.S., and we have an enthusiastic, experienced executive team that shares our sense of content purpose. Whether it’s virtue or verticals, Dow Jones will lead the way.”
The company is also creating a new department, Data Strategy, which will integrate research teams across Dow Jones who collect commercial and market data for institutional products and enterprise customers. The department will be run by Joe Lanza, currently president of Financial Markets for Dow Jones, and report directly to Fenwick.
Additional executive moves include:
Kelly Leach, currently senior vice president of strategy, has been promoted to managing director for Dow Jones for its businesses in Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in London, and will become publisher of The Wall Street Journal Europe.
Jennifer Jehn, currently senior vice president of marketing, has been promoted to head of circulation, responsible for the development of circulation and subscription sales across the company’s print and digital publications, including The Wall Street Journal, the largest newspaper in the U.S.
Tracy David has been promoted to head of marketing, succeeding Jehn, and will guide global marketing and brand development across the company, including key brands such as The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva and MarketWatch, among others.
Victoria Chin has been promoted to head of customer service, responsible for managing and evolving the company’s consumer and institutional customer service worldwide.
Dan Hayter has been named head of institutional sales, Americas, for Dow Jones, responsible for leading enterprise sales and new business opportunities for corporate and financial markets products, including Factiva. He succeeds John Lee, who left the company earlier this month.
The aforementioned executives will report to Fenwick, who assumed his current role in February.
Dow Jones & Co. president resigns
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co. announced Tuesday that Todd Larsen has resigned his post as president, a role he has held since January 2010.
“Todd has demonstrated a deep commitment to Dow Jones for more than a decade, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work closely with him,” said Lex Fenwick, chief executive officer of Dow Jones, in a statement. “Our digital business, one that others look to emulate, is at the forefront of the industry, and that is a testament to Todd’s leadership and guidance, and we will continue to build upon that as we move forward.”
Added Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, “Todd has been an inspiring leader during his time at Dow Jones, providing guidance and insight when there has been a paucity of prescience in our industry. He has been a comradely colleague and played a particularly important role in our successful digital transition.”
“We are very grateful to Todd for his leadership and commitment during a vital time for Dow Jones, and his efforts have left the Company well positioned for future growth,” said Chase Carey, president and COO of News Corporation. “We wish him well on all his future endeavors.”
Larsen has been with Dow Jones for 13 years, and, under his leadership, the company’s digital business has grown to become an established and important growth engine for the company, which has also seen its profits grow significantly. He was a principal architect of the company’s successful digital strategy, which is now responsible for more than 1.3 million paid digital subscribers and leading products and applications across multiple digital platforms for an expanding global audience.
Dow Jones & Co. settles copyright infringement claim with Cision
by Chris Roush
Cision AB (Sweden) and Cision US Inc., have paid a significant sum to settle a claim based on Cision’s unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and other misuse of news content published by Dow Jones & Co., including full text articles from The Wall Street Journal.
“Dow Jones aggressively pursues legal action whenever necessary to prevent the unauthorized use of our content,” said Mark H. Jackson, general counsel for Dow Jones, in a statement. “This settlement is another reminder that only paying customers enjoy full access to Dow Jones’ highly valuable journalism, and anyone who free rides on our content will face serious financial repercussions.”
Dow Jones asserted copyright infringement claims against Cision in response to Cision’s regular reproduction and distribution of Dow Jones’ copyrighted articles to Cision’s subscribers, who include public relations professionals at corporations throughout the United States.
The Dow Jones content was originally published mainly in the print and online editions of The Journal, Barron’s and SmartMoney magazines. On March 8, 2012, Cision publicly disclosed that it had received a significant claim of rights infringement, without identifying Dow Jones as the claimant.
The parties have agreed to settle Dow Jones’ claims without litigation. While the matter has been settled to Dow Jones’ satisfaction, the specific terms of the settlement remain confidential.
As a result of the settlement, Cision is no longer redistributing Dow Jones’ original content, and Cision’s subscribers will be directed to Dow Jones if they seek to obtain such content.
