Running the Numbers on the 'WSJ' Makeover

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is a whole different animal -- and now come the numbers to prove it.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism tallied all the front-page Journal stories published between Aug. 12 and March 13 to get a quantitative picture of just how much the paper has changed under its new owner.

In the four months since Murdoch took control, in mid-December, 18 percent of the front-page newshole has been given over to politics, up from 5 percent before. Foreign events, meanwhile, comprised 25 percent of post-takeover page-one stories, versus 18 percent in the earlier period.

Those gains came at the expense of business coverage, which fell from 30 percent of front-page real estate to 18 percent after the sale. Economic news, however, held steady at 15 percent.

In summary, says PEJ, "The Journal's front page has clearly shifted focus, de-emphasizing business coverage that was the franchise, while placing much more emphasis on domestic politics and devoting more attention to international issues. But it is not, at least not yet, as broad as the New York Times on the same days."