Wall Street Journal to go tabloid in Europe and Asia

International
Wall Street Journal to go tabloid in Europe and Asia
By Finfacts Team
May 9, 2005, 06:01

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What the company says about itself: Dow Jones & Company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DJ, publishes the world's most vital business and financial news and information. Since 1882, the Dow Jones name has been synonymous with accuracy, integrity and trust. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company, is the world's leading business publication. The Journal reaches the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, the Journal seeks to help its readers succeed by providing essential and relevant information, presented fairly and accurately, from a dependable and trusted source. The Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition, which is launching in September 2005, will be the complete weekend guide to business and the business of life for Wall Street Journal readers.

Dow Jones, the publishers of The Wall Street Journal is reported to be planning to change the format of its loss-making European and Asian editions from broadsheet to a tabloid/compact format, to save newsprint costs.

The Wall Street Journal has been hit by declining advertising sales in the US market as advertisers switch to online advertising. Many newspapers including the Irish Independent, The Times of London and Die Welt in Germany have responded to falling revenues by switching to the tabloid format.

The Wall Street Journal Europe, which is based in Brussels, and the Asian Journal, based in Hong Kong, have been suffering financiallly for some time. The European edition has had a 20.6 percent fall in first-quarter advertising lineage, while the Asian Journal reported a smaller decline.

The US publication had an 8 percent fall in first quarter advertising. Net income at Dow Jones, which owns The Journal, fell to $8.2 million in the first quarter from $17.8 million a year earlier.

Dow Jones is planning to launch a Saturday edition of The Wall Street Journal later this year.

Charles Dow and Edward Jones were the first to create an index measuring the activity of the New York Stock Exchange. The original 11 companies in this first Dow Jones Index were Western Union, Pacific Mail Steamship and nine railroads.