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March 2, 2007
Gordon Won the Battle of Jericho
During a lunch six months ago with Gordon Crovitz, publisher of the Wall Street Journal and Bill Grueskin, editor of the WSJ.com we discussed how that the walled garden approach of Dow Jones was limiting its utility as a web resource. Gordon and Bill have been busy changing the dynamic, so that today it is fair to say that they are taking down at least part of the walls surrounding the city (for those non Biblical types, Joshua won the Battle of Jericho by blowing his horn and the walls came tumbling down).
If you go to http://blogs.wsj.com, you will see links to nine blogs, including Law, Washington Wire, The Juggle (more on this later), Energy, Wealth, Marketbeat, Heard on the Runway (fashion), and Tax. The newest one, which launched yesterday, is the Deals blog by Dennis Berman at http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/. Coming to a theater near you in the next weeks is the Health Blog written by Scott Hensley. You will also see blogs on specific events, such as Davos or Fashion Week.
So your faithful PR guy had the unique experience of turning the tables on Messrs. Grueskin and Hensley, conducting interviews with them!
Here are highlights:
Grueskin said that the WSJ is focusing first on industry blogs, then lifestyle blogs. “This is a key medium for analyzing news. It can help us build and develop our audience. Specifically, we believe it can help to increase our subscription base. We also are selling ads. We also insist that we keep our very high standards on journalism.”
Grueskin added that the WSJ is being very liberal about linking to other sites and that all of its blogs are open to comments. “On the Juggle, our blog on work and family issues, one post on whether to wear a wedding ring to a job interview had 64 comments within a day.”
The top rated WSJ blog depends on events of the day or on story of the day, according to Grueskin. For example, when the market dropped precipitously earlier this week, the Marketbeat blog was most popular, when the Law column publishes salaries of associates it draws huge numbers and lots of comments. The Energy Round-up is consistently second or third most popular.
Hensley noted that the WSJ blogs are very interested in incorporating video content into their stories. “If a CEO is down here for an interview, we will have a video camera available to enhance the reader experience.” He noted that some of the blogs are written by long-time WSJ reporters (Berman as example) but that this format is also a way to develop new voices for the Journal such as Sara Schaefer Muñoz who writes the Juggle.
What are the implications for PR people? We have to think of stories that have web appeal—slightly less formal, more anecdotes, and more visual. We should consider the deadline for reporters as being throughout the day, as we move more to a wire service type of coverage with constant updates across platforms from blogs to WSJ.com to the print WSJ. We should also expand our sources of third party testimonial, from professors and MDs to include more consumer friendly experts from bloggers to man on the street who have a passionate interest in the category.
Technorati Tags:
Wall Street Journal, Blogs, Gordon Crovitz, Bill Grueskin
Posted by Edelman at March 2, 2007 1:14 PM
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