Wall Street Journal names new editor
The Wall Street Journal named a new editor-in-chief on Tuesday, elevating Matthew J. Murray to the top spot at one of the United States’ pre-eminent newspapers and bringing an end to the tenure of Gerard Baker, whose stewardship gave rise to unrest in the newsroom.
British-born, Oxford-educated Baker, who led the broadsheet for five and a half years, will remain at the Journal as a weekend columnist. He will also host live events and a Journal-themed show on the Fox Business Network, which, like the newspaper, is an arm of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. At the Journal, Baker oversaw a sharp rise in readership and an award-winning investigation that exposed fraudulent claims by the health-care tech company Theranos. But he also faced apprehension among his staff.
Last year, at an all-hands meeting called to address concerns about coverage, Baker defended himself against accusations from reporters that the paper had gone easy on U.S. President Donald Trump, and suggested that other news orga- nizations had become overly negative in their coverage.
He also encouraged unhappy newsroom employees to seek jobs elsewhere — an offer that many reporters and editors took him up on. During his tenure at the Journal, more than a dozen left for new jobs at the Washington Post and the New York Times. Last month, three former Journal reporters received Pulitzer Prizes for their work at the Post.
News of Baker’s exit Tuesday caught the newsroom by surprise: No announcement was made to the staff besides a formal news release issued by the Murdoch-owned News Corp., which purchased Dow Jones, the paper’s parent company, in 2007.
It cannot be said that the Journal, during Baker’s watch, has not made Trump squirm: The paper has been at the forefront of reporting on payments involving the president and women who have said that they had sexual relationships with him.
Baker’s replacement, Murray, is a 24-year veteran of Dow Jones and the Journal’s current executive editor. He will begin his new job Monday.