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The Wall Street Journal
| The Wall Street Journal | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | New York, N.Y. |
| Type: | News Media |
| Top official: | Gerard Baker, Editor in Chief |
| Founder(s): | Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser |
| Year founded: | 1889 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is a newspaper and news agency based in New York, N.Y. It was founded in by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser in 1889. The WSJ is a division of Dow Jones, which is owned by News Corp.[1] The paper's primary focus is business and economy but also covers other areas of news.[2]
Background
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was established in 1889, printing its first edition on July 8, 1889.[3] It was founded by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser in New York as a way to deliver news to the Wall Street Stock Exchange. Journalists Dow and Jones joined financier Bergstresser in 1889. The three men saw that there was a gap in the reporting of financial news and began their news business in the basement of a lower Manhattan candy store.[4]
In mid-20th century, the paper grew to become one of the largest in the country, with a circulation of over one million.[5] Dow Jones and the WSJ expanded internationally in the 1960s.[6]
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought the Dow Jones and all of the Dow Jones' companies in 2007, including the WSJ.[7] Murdoch's purchase of the Dow Jones brought significant change in content to the WSJ. The journal's coverage of international affairs increased by 7% and business coverage dropped by 16%; politics went from nearly 5% to making up for about 18% of the newspaper's content.[2] Another change under Murdoch's leadership was the departure from the signature WSJ front page, which had, since its inception, been columns of print, to the introduction of large photos.[3] In part, these changes have been credited to Murdoch's desire to rival The New York Times.[2]
Leadership
As of August 2025, Emma Tucker is the newspaper's editor-in-chief and Paul A. Gigot is the editor of the opinion page.[1]
Work and activities
News activities
The WSJ has several media platforms, including a daily print paper (except Sunday), web access, tablet and smartphone app editions. As of 2024, the newspaper had over 4.3 million paying print and digital subscribers.[8] The WSJ stopped publishing its European and Asian editions in 2017.[9]
As of August 2025, the newspaper said its mission was to be the "definitive source of news and information through the lens of business, finance, economics and money, global forces that shape the world and are key to understanding it."[1]
Editorial page activities
The Wall Street Journal has separate departments for news and opinion content.[1] The Columbia Journalism Review said in 2017 that the "newspaper is known for a conservative bent on its editorial pages."[10] The Wall Street Journal has not endorsed a candidate for president since 1928.[11]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wall Street Journal. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Wall Street Journal , "About Us," accessed August 18, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pew Research Center, "How Different Is Murdoch’s New Wall Street Journal?" accessed August 18, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Atlantic, "What Makes The Wall Street Journal Look Like The Wall Street Journal," July 8, 2014
- ↑ WSJ, "It All Began in the Basement of a Candy Store," August 1, 2007
- ↑ Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame , "Bernard Kilgore," accessed August 18, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedAbout - ↑ NPR, "How Has 'Wall Street Journal' Fared Under Murdoch?" July 22, 2011
- ↑ Statista , "Wall Street Journal," accessed August 18, 2025
- ↑ The Guardian , "Wall Street Journal stops publishing Asian and European print editions," September 28, 2017
- ↑ Columbia Journalism Review , "Unpacking WSJ’s ‘watershed’ Trump editorial," March 22, 2017
- ↑ Wall Street Journal , "Jeff Bezos Defends Washington Post’s Move to Not Endorse a Presidential Candidate," October 28, 2024
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