The Wall Street Journal is moving to News Corp’s HQ in midtown Manhattan on 1211 Sixth Avenue, just a stone’s throw from the Financial Time’s US HQ on 1330 Sixth Ave. This is a long circuitous journey back to the heart of the US media capital for Robert Thomson, the former head of FT US and managing editor of the WSJ.
Mr Thomson had assembled a fantastic team of talented journalists and editors and we were all raring to go. We were the underdogs against the massive Dow Jones. And we were getting great stories the tough way–not with pre-briefings or stories handed on a plate–but scoops through hard-nosed journalism.
He could draw you into conversions and share things that he knew you would never repeat. That created strong loyalties. And it was part of a management style that helped create a great camaraderie within our editorial teams.
Mr Thomson’s loyalty to the FT was shaken when one of his main rivals, Andrew Gowers, was appointed editor of the FT in 2001. In March 2002 Mr Thomson was recruited by Rupert Murdoch to run The Times - one of the world’s oldest and most famous newspapers.
The Pink ‘Un . . .
Most of the US watchers of the Rupert Murdoch takeover of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal have focused on the potential challenge facing the New York Times from a revamped WSJ. I would be less concerned about the and more concerned about the challenge to the “Pink ‘Un.”
The arch strategist of the FT’s US success is now its arch rival. This will be interesting.
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