OMG – A Newspaper War!

April 27, 2010

Well, today’s the day that the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) tries to stick a knife in the back of the venerable “grey old lady,” the New York Times (NYT).  The fight is on.  The WSJ today launches the New York City metro section, to compete directly with the NYT.  The WSJ was purchased in 2007 by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, also home to Fox News.  It became the national circulation leader, overtaking USA Today, last year and now wants to bury the Times in New York.  Murdoch says the Times is overly liberal and no longer provides good local coverage.  The Times was on the verge of going out of business last year and had to get a bailout from a private investor.  This fight is something it doesn’t need.  But a war is a war and it must be fought.  Murdoch is going after the critical ad revenue from Bergdorf Goodman and all the other retailers, and he’s getting it.  This could mean the end of the NYTimes, or it could mean a very expensive experiment for Rupert.  Either way, it will be fun to watch.  Rupert’s new WSJ is this week’s Strategy of the Week.