'WSJ' Shake-Up: The Morning After

Call off the speculation: Marcus Brauchli was pushed.

Not that that's exactly a surprise, but The Wall Street Journal's own reporting on the resignation of its managing editor makes it semi-official. "[I]mpatient with the pace of change" at the paper, Rupert Murdoch had two of his top lieutenants let Brauchli know he was no longer welcome:

About 10 days ago, Mr. Thomson and Dow Jones Chief Executive Officer Leslie Hinton summoned Mr. Brauchli to a meeting about his future, according to people familiar with the situation. They suggested it might be better to have their own person running the newspaper, these people say. He agreed, these people say, and the two sides began talking about his next step, and about a financial package.

More revelations from the Journal's story:

-"News Corp. executives had been discussing the possibility of Mr. Brauchli's departure as early as several months ago," but decided to give him a chance to show he was with the program.

-Brauchli was left in the dark on the company's plans to publish its U.S. edition in London.

-Brauchli's ouster caused concern among members of the committee that oversees the editorial independence agreement between Dow Jones and News Corp.

The Observer has still more detail, including an anecdote that shows Brauchli to be a fan of dramatic irony:

On a trip to the San Francisco bureau on April 16, the low-key but normally charismatic Mr. Brauchli looked dour, his face drawn. The questions thrown at him were tense: What's going to happen to the "A-hed," those offbeat Page One stories about things like aging pets and farming neighbors? Was the paper to be front-loaded with general stories about San Francisco politics, or did they still want to hear every mouse click coming out of Cupertino? Does Rupert Murdoch care about Pulitzers?
Finally, as a way to ease the tension, Robert Guth, the paper's Microsoft reporter, tried to change tack.

"Are you having fun?" Mr. Guth asked, according to people present.

Mr. Brauchli appeared distracted--he was looking around the room, scrolling through his BlackBerry, and the question seemed to stop him cold.

"What did you say?" Mr. Brauchli replied.

Mr. Guth repeated the question.

"Well, I'm still here," Mr. Brauchli said, and the laughter that followed was strained

The next morning, while visiting the Los Angeles bureau, he was asked whether The Journal was going to be able to retain its identity against the strong will of the newspaper's new master.

"As long as I'm here it will," he told the reporters, "but I don't know much longer I'll be around for."

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