The Wall Street Journal (WSJ; also referred to simply astheJournal) is an American newspaper based inNew York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscription model, requiring readers to pay for access to most of its articles and content. TheJournal is published six days a week byDow Jones & Company, a division ofNews Corp.
The first products ofDow Jones & Company, the publisher of theJournal, were brief news bulletins, nicknamedflimsies, hand-delivered throughout the day to traders at thestock exchange.[14] In 1883, they were aggregated in a printed daily summary called theCustomers' Afternoon Letter, sold for $1.50 per month compared to the $15 a month Dow Jones bulletin service.[15] Dow Jones opened its own printing press at71 Broadway in 1885.[15]
Beginning July 8, 1889, theAfternoon Letter was renamedThe Wall Street Journal. The debut issue of theJournal was four pages long, with dimensions of 20 3/4 × 15 1/2 inches and cost of $0.02 per copy. In its early days, theJournal had "a tedious, blow-by-blow account of the day's business without benefit of editing," wrote Edward E. Scharff in 1986.[15]
For nearly 40 years, the front page had a four-column format, with the middle two devoted to news briefs and the farther two filled with advertisements for brokerage services. TheJournal focused on stories from news wires and listings of stocks and bonds, while occasionally covering sports or politics.[15] One front-page story on the debut edition ofThe Wall Street Journal was a raw wire report about the boxing match betweenJohn L. Sullivan andJake Kilrain, with varying accounts of the fight citingThe Boston Globe, theBaltimore American, and anonymous sources.[16] Seldom didThe Wall Street Journal publish analysis or opinion articles in its early decades.[17] In addition to a private wire toBoston, theJournal had reporters communicate via telegraph from Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh,Albany, and London.[18]
In 1896, theJournal began publishing two separate Dow Jones stock indicies, theDow Jones Industrial Average andDow Jones Railroad Average.[14][19][20] The first morning edition of theJournal was published on November 14, 1898. By the late 1890s, daily circulation reached 7,000.[17]
Charles Dow wrote the first "Review and Outlook" column on April 21, 1899, a front-page editorial column explaining stock prices in terms of human nature; Dow's thinking would later be known as theDow theory. Scharff regarded Dow's essays from 1899 to 1902 as "stock market classics".[21]
In the months before his death in 1902, Dow arranged to sell Dow Jones and theJournal toClarence W. Barron, theBoston correspondent for theJournal since 1889, for $130,000 (equivalent to $4,724,500 in 2024).[22] Because Barron had financial difficulties, his wife Jessie Waldron Barron made the $2,500 down payment to buy Dow Jones in 1902; Clarence would first own a Dow Jones share about ten years later.[23]
Under Barron's ownership,Thomas F. Woodlock was editor of theJournal from 1902 to 1905.[24][25] By the end of Woodlock's tenure, daily circulation for theJournal rose from 7,000 to 11,000.[26]William Peter Hamilton became lead editorial writer in 1908, a time when theJournal began reflecting the views of Barron. Hamilton wrote what Scharff considered "daily sermons in support of free-market capitalism".[27]
Barron and his predecessors were credited with creating an atmosphere of fearless, independent financial reporting—a novelty in the early days ofbusiness journalism. In 1921,Barron's, the United States's premier financial weekly, was founded.[28] Scharff described the newspaper in the Barron era as "Wall Street's public defender" against regulatory efforts by the U.S. Congress.[29] Circulation continued to rise, reaching 18,750 to 1920 and 52,000 briefly in 1928.[26] Barron died in 1928, a year beforeBlack Tuesday, the stock market crash that greatly affected theGreat Depression in the United States. Barron's descendants, theBancroft family, would continue to control the company until 2007.[28]
TheWall Street Crash of 1929 would be yet another challenge to theJournal on top of Barron's death. William Peter Hamilton died of pneumonia on December 9, 1929, aged 63.[30] Circulation of theJournal, having surpassed 50,000 in 1928, dropped below 28,000 in the 1930s, and the newspaper downsized from 28 to 16 pages in the 1930s as well.[31] Dow Jones presidentHugh Bancroft retired in 1932; following his death in 1933, his widow Jane Waldron Bancroft appointedKenneth Craven "Casey" Hogate as new company president.[32][33] Hogate envisioned expanding the scope of theJournal to a "more general business paper" beyond stock and bond numbers.[34]
Expanding westward,The Wall Street Journal debuted a West Coast edition on October 21, 1929,The Wall Street Journal Pacific Coast Edition. ThePacific Coast Edition focused on California businesses and replicated some items from the regularWall Street Journal; however, its circulation never exceeded 3,000, and the Great Depression led numerous subscription cancellations.[35]
By 1931,Bernard Kilgore became news editor forThe Wall Street Journal, having joined theJournal copy desk in 1929. He began writing a column for thePacific Coast Edition called "Dear George", a feature explaining obscure financial topics in simpler, plain rhetoric. "Dear George" sharply contrasted with otherWall Street Journal articles that relied on jargon that was incomprehensible even to its own reporters. The Eastern edition of theJournal began carrying "Dear George", and beginning in 1932, Kilgore wrote "Dear George" three times a week from New York for theJournal.[36] Then in 1934, Kilgore began writing a daily news digest "What's News" for theJournal front page.[37] Kilgore's writings attracted the attention of the White House; PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt publicly recommended Kilgore's work about pension payments for World War I veterans and a Supreme Court decision on theNational Industrial Recovery Act of 1933.[38] However, theJournal continued to struggle financially, with circulation stagnant at 32,000 in 1940. Most editions were only 12 to 14 pages long, and Dow Jones made only $69,000 of profits on $2 million of revenue, mostly due to its news ticker. Scharff observed a lack of coverage about a possible U.S. role inWorld War II.[39]
In the 1940s, Dow Jones took steps to restructure theJournal. Kilgore was named managing editor of theJournal in 1941 and Dow Jones CEO in 1945.[28] Scharff described Kilgore's approach to journalism: "AJournal story had to satisfy its sophisticated readership, but it also had to be clear enough not to discourage neophytes."[40] Additionally, Kilgore aimed to have the newspaper appeal to a national audience, by making the East Coast and West Coast editions of theJournal more homogeneous.[40] Until printing presses and reporting bureaus could be opened on location, photographs could not be included in theJournal.[28]
In1947, the paper won its firstPulitzer Prize for William Henry Grimes'seditorials.[28] Also in May 1947, theJournal launched a Southwest edition based inDallas.[41] The newspaper also added a new slogan in 1949: "Everywhere, Men Who Get Ahead in Business ReadThe Wall Street Journal."[41] Circulation grew by nearly four-fold, from 32,000 in 1940 to 140,000 in 1949; however, Kilgore's editorial reforms of theJournal had not yet entered popular understanding.[42]
The first major journalism award for theJournal was aSigma Delta Chi public service award, for stories in late 1952 exposing links between Empire Mail Order and organized crime. These stories followed news thatHoward Hughes soldRKO Pictures to Empire Mail Order.[43] Circulation of theJournal continued increasing throughout the 1950s, to 205,000 in 1951, 400,000 in 1955, and over 500,000 by 1957.[44]
Warren H. Phillips became managing editor ofThe Wall Street Journal in 1957 after being promoted from Chicago bureau manager. Phillips was Jewish, in contrast to the largely midwestern,WASP management of theJournal at the time. Phillips, a former socialist, shifted his political views in the 1950s to reflect social liberalism and fiscal conservatism.[45] Under Phillips, theJournal provided in-depth coverage of thecivil rights movement, on the grounds that it "was something that the average businessman needed to know about".[45] For instance,Journal coverage of theLittle Rock Central High School integration crisis went beyond the largely visual, emotional elements on newspapers and television, in depicting local citizens as supportive of integration in contrast to GovernorOrval Faubus and other local politicians.[46]
During the1962–1963 New York City newspaper strike, theJournal was the only daily newspaper to continue printing in New York City; however, after the strike, Kilgore ordered the printing presses moved from New York toChicopee, Massachusetts effective July 1, 1963. Although Kilgore did not publicly explain his rationale then, Scharff wrote in 1986 that the move resulted from feuds between Dow Jones and the printer's union.[47]
By Kilgore's death in 1967,Wall Street Journal circulation exceeded one million.[28] In 1967, Dow Jones Newswires began a major expansion outside of the United States ultimately placing its journalists in every major financial center inEurope,Asia,Latin America,Australia, andAfrica. In 1970, Dow Jones bought the Ottaway newspaper chain, which at the time comprised nine dailies and three Sunday newspapers. Later, the name was changed toDow Jones Local Media Group.[48] The first strike affecting aJournal printing plant was a three-day strike atSilver Spring, Maryland, in 1967; that would be followed by a weeklong strike by truck drivers at theSouth Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1970.[47]
A complement to the print newspaper,The Wall Street Journal Online, was launched in 1996 and has allowed access only by subscription from the beginning.[51] A weekly (later daily) crossword edited byMike Shenk was introduced in 1998.[52]
In 2003, Dow Jones began to integrate reporting of theJournal's print and online subscribers together inAudit Bureau of Circulations statements.[53] In 2007, it was commonly believed to be the largest paid-subscription news site on the Web, with 980,000 paid subscribers.[28] Since then, digital subscription has risen to 1.3 million as of September 2018, falling to number two behindThe New York Times with 3 million digital subscriptions.[54] In May 2008, an annual subscription to thedigital edition ofThe Wall Street Journal cost $119 for those who do not have subscriptions to the print edition. By June 2013, the monthly cost for a subscription to the online edition was $22.99, or $275.88 annually, excluding introductory offers.[55] Digital subscription rates increased dramatically to $443.88 per year as its popularity increased over print, with first-time subscribers paying $187.20 per year.[56]
On November 30, 2004, Oasys Mobile andThe Wall Street Journal released an app that would allow users to access content fromThe Wall Street Journal Online via their mobile phones.[57]
In September 2005, theJournal launched a weekend edition, delivered to all subscribers, which marked a return to Saturday publication after a lapse of some 50 years. The move was designed in part to attract more consumer advertising.[28]
In 2005, theJournal reported a readership profile of about 60 percent top management, an average income of $191,000, an average household net worth of $2.1million, and an average age of 55.[58]
In 2007, theJournal launched a worldwide expansion of its website to include major foreign-language editions. The paper had also shown an interest in buying the rivalFinancial Times.[59]
The nameplate is unique in having a period at the end.[60]
Front-page advertising in theJournal was re-introduced on September 5, 2006. This followed similar introductions in the European and Asian editions in late 2005.[61]
After presenting nearly identical front-page layouts for half a century – always six columns, with the day's top stories in the first and sixth columns, "What's News" digest in the second and third, the "A-hed" feature story in the fourth (with 'hed' being jargon forheadline) and themed weekly reports in the fifth column[62] – the paper in 2007 decreased itsbroadsheet width from 15 to 12inches while keeping the length at 223⁄4inches, to savenewsprint costs. News design consultantMario García collaborated on the changes. Dow Jones said it would save $18million a year in newsprint costs across allThe Wall Street Journal papers.[63] This move eliminated one column of print, pushing the "A-hed" out of its traditional location (though the paper now usually includes a quirky feature story on the right side of the front page, sandwiched among the lead stories).
The paper uses ink dot drawings calledhedcuts, introduced in 1979 and originally created byKevin Sprouls,[64] in addition to photographs, a method of illustration considered a consistent visual signature of the paper. theJournal still heavily employs the use ofcaricatures, including those by illustratorKen Fallin, such as whenPeggy Noonan memorialized then-recently deceased newsmanTim Russert.[65][66] The use of color photographs and graphics has become increasingly common in recent years with the addition of more "lifestyle" sections.
The daily was awarded by theSociety for News Design World's Best Designed Newspaper award for 1994 and 1997.[67]
On May 2, 2007,News Corporation made an unsolicited takeover bid forDow Jones, offering $60 per share for stock that had been selling for $36.33 per share.[68] TheBancroft family, which controlled more than 60% of the voting stock, at first rejected the offer, but later reconsidered its position.[69]
On December 13, 2007, shareholders representing more than 60 percent of Dow Jones's voting stock approved the company's acquisition by News Corporation.[72]
In an editorial page column, publisherL. Gordon Crovitz said the Bancrofts and News Corporation had agreed that theJournal's news and opinion sections would preserve their editorial independence from their new corporate parent.[73]
A special committee was established to oversee the paper's editorial integrity. When the managing editorMarcus Brauchli resigned on April 22, 2008, the committee said that News Corporation had violated its agreement by not notifying the committee earlier. However, Brauchli said he believed that new owners should appoint their own editor.[74]
A 2007Journal article quoted charges that Murdoch had made and broken similar promises in the past. One large shareholder commented that Murdoch has long "expressed his personal, political andbusiness biases through his newspapers and television stations". FormerTimes assistant editorFred Emery remembers an incident when "Mr. Murdoch called him into his office in March 1982 and said he was considering firingTimes editorHarold Evans. Mr. Emery says he reminded Mr. Murdoch of his promise that editors couldn't be fired without the independent directors' approval. 'God, you don't take all that seriously, do you?' Mr. Murdoch answered, according to Mr. Emery." Murdoch eventually forced out Evans.[75]
In 2011,The Guardian found evidence that theJournal had artificially inflated its European sales numbers, by paying Executive Learning Partnership for purchasing 16% of European sales. These inflated sales numbers then enabled theJournal to charge similarly inflated advertising rates, as the advertisers would think that they reached more readers than they actually did. In addition, theJournal agreed to run "articles" featuring Executive Learning Partnership, presented as news, but effectively advertising.[76] The case came to light after a BelgianWall Street Journal employee,Gert Van Mol, informed Dow Jones CEOLes Hinton about the questionable practice.[77] As a result, the thenWall Street Journal Europe CEO and Publisher Andrew Langhoff was fired after it was found out he personally pressured journalists into covering one of the newspaper's business partners involved in the issue.[78][79] Since September 2011, all the online articles that resulted from the ethical wrongdoing carry aWall Street Journal disclaimer informing the readers about the circumstances in which they were created.
TheJournal, along with its parent Dow Jones & Company, was among the businesses News Corporation spun off in 2013 as the newNews Corp.[80]
In November 2016, in an effort to cut costs, theJournal's editor-in-chief,Gerard Baker, announced layoffs of staff and consolidation of its print sections. The new "Business & Finance" section combined the former "Business & Tech" and "Money & Investing" sections. The new "Life & Arts" section took the place of "Personal Journal" and "Arena". In addition, theJournal's "Greater New York" coverage was reduced and moved to the main section of paper.[81] The section was shuttered on July 9, 2021.[82]
A 2018 survey conducted byGallup and theKnight Foundation found thatThe Wall Street Journal was considered the third most-accurate and fourth most-unbiased news organization among the general public, tenth amongDemocrats, and second amongRepublicans.[83] In an October 2018Simmons Research survey of 38 news organizations,The Wall Street Journal was ranked the most trusted news organization by Americans.Joshua Benton of theNieman Journalism Lab atHarvard University wrote that the paper's "combination of respected news pages and conservative editorial pages seem to be a magic formula for generating trust across the ideological spectrum."[84]
From 2019 through 2022, theJournal partnered withFacebook to provide content for the social-media site's "News Tab". Facebook paid theJournal in excess of $10 million during that period, terminating the relationship as part of a broader shift away from news content.[85]
On June 13, 2022, theJournal launched aproduct review website calledBuy Side.[86] The website remains free and has a distinct team from theJournal newsroom.[86]
In February 2024, theJournal laid off about 20 employees, primarily economics reporters based inWashington, D.C. Moving forward, those beats will be covered by the newspaper's New York-based business team.[87] The next month the paper laid off another five people from its standards and ethics team.[88] In April, the paper laid off at least 11 people from its video and social media desks.[89] In May, theJournal cut six editorial staff positions from itsHong Kong bureau and another two reporter jobs inSingapore. Moving forward the paper will shift its focus in the region from Hong Kong to Singapore with new the creation of several new jobs at that bureau.[90] More staff were laid off a few weeks later amid further restructuring, including at least eight reporters.[91]
WSJ Live became available on mobile devices in September 2011.[94]
WSJ Weekend, the weekend newspaper, expanded September 2010, with two new sections: "Off Duty" and "Review".[95][96]
"Greater New York", a stand-alone, full-color section dedicated to theNew York metro area, ran from April 2010 until July 2021.[97][82]
The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco Bay Area Edition, which focuses on local news and events, launched on November 5, 2009, appearing locally each Thursday in the printJournal and every day online at WSJ.com/SF.[98]
WSJ Weekend, formerly calledSaturday's Weekend Edition: September 2005.[99]
Launch ofToday's Journal, which included both the addition ofPersonal Journal and color capacity to theJournal: April 2002.[100]
Launch ofThe Wall Street Journal Sunday: September 12, 1999. A four-page print supplement of original investing news, market reports and personal-finance advice that ran in the business sections of other U.S. newspapers.WSJ Sunday circulation peaked in 2005 with 84 newspapers reaching nearly 11 million homes. The publication ceased on February 7, 2015.[101]
Friday Journal, formerly calledFirst Weekend Journal: March 20, 1998.[102]
Since 1980, theJournal has been published in multiple sections. TheJournal increased its maximum issue length to 96 pages, including up to 24 color pages, in 2002.[104]
As of 2012[update],The Wall Street Journal had a global news staff of around 2,000 journalists in85 news bureaus across 51 countries.[105][106] As of 2012[update], it had 26 printing plants.[105] Its Asia headquarters is in Hong Kong, but will move to Singapore after it stated it would do so in 2024.[107]
Regularly scheduled sections are:
Section One: Every day; corporate news, as well as political and economic reporting and the opinion pages
Marketplace: Monday through Friday; coverage of health, technology,media, andmarketing industries (the second section was launched June 23, 1980)
Money and Investing: Every day; covers and analyzes international financial markets (the third section was launched October 3, 1988)
Personal Journal: Published Tuesday through Thursday; covers personal investments,careers and cultural pursuits (the section was introduced April 9, 2002)
Off Duty: Published Saturdays in WSJ Weekend; focuses on fashion, food, design, travel and gear/tech. The section was launched September 25, 2010.
Review: Published Saturdays in WSJ Weekend; focuses on essays, commentary, reviews and ideas. The section was launched September 25, 2010.
Mansion: Published Fridays, focuses on high-end real estate. The section was launched October 5, 2012.
WSJ Magazine: Launched in 2008 as a quarterly, this luxury magazine supplement distributed within the U.S., European and Asian editions ofThe Wall Street Journal grew to 12 issues per year in 2014.
In addition, several columnists contribute regular features to theJournal opinion page:
In addition to these regular opinion pieces, on Fridays theJournal publishes a religion-themed op-ed, titled "Houses of Worship", written by a different author each week. Authors range from theDalai Lama to cardinals.
Style & Substance is a monthly bulletin onEnglish language usage. Each issue discusses specific language issues from the perspective of the WSJ's copyeditors according to the newspaper's internalstylebook. The first issue ofStyle & Substance was published in 1987 under the direction of front page editor Paul R. Martin.[109] Front page editor Bill Power and online editor Jennifer Hicks succeeded him in 2013.[110] TheJournal announces major stylistic changes through the bulletin, such as the newspaper's abandonment ofcourtesy titles in 2023.[111]
WSJ. isThe Wall Street Journal's luxury lifestyle magazine. Its coverage spans art, fashion, entertainment, design, food, architecture, travel and more. Sarah Ball is Editor in Chief and Omblyne Pelier is Publisher.[112]
Launched as a quarterly in 2008, the magazine grew to 12 issues a year for 2014.[113] The magazine is inserted into the weekend U.S. edition ofThe Wall Street Journal and is available on WSJ.com and in the newspaper's iPad app.
In 2012, the magazine launched its Innovator Awards program. An extension of the November Innovators issue, the awards ceremony, held in New York City atMuseum of Modern Art, honors visionaries across the fields of design, fashion, architecture, humanitarianism, art and technology.
In 2013,Adweek namedWSJ. the "Hottest Lifestyle Magazine of the Year" in its annual Hot List.[114]
OpinionJournal.com was awebsite featuring content from the editorial pages ofThe Wall Street Journal. It existed separately from the news content atwsj.com until January 2008, when it was merged into the main website.[115]The editorials (titled "Review & Outlook") reflectedThe Journal'sconservative politicaleditorial line, as did its regularcolumnists, who includedPeggy Noonan,John Fund, andDaniel Henninger.
On June 30, 2020, theJournal launchedWSJ Noted., a monthly digital "news and culture" magazine for subscribers aged 18–34 in a bid to attract a younger audience to theJournal. The magazine has a group of some 7,000 young adults who are invited to preview content, provide feedback, and join Q&As with Noted staff.[92]
The Wall Street Journal editorial board members oversee theJournal's editorial page, dictating the tone and direction of the newspaper's opinion section.The Wall Street Journal does not provide details on the exact duties of board members.
Contrasts have been noted between theJournal's news reporting and its editorial pages.[117] "WhileJournal reporters keep busy informing readers," wrote one reporter in 1982, "Journal editorial writers put forth views that often contradict the paper's best reporting and news analysis."[118] Two summaries published in 1995 by the progressive blogFairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and in 1996 by theColumbia Journalism Review[119] criticized theJournal's editorial page for inaccuracy during the 1980s and 1990s. One reference work in 2011 described the editorial pages as "rigidly neoconservative" while noting that the news coverage "has enjoyed a sterling reputation among readers of all political stripes".[120]
In July 2020, more than 280Journal journalists and Dow Jones staff members wrote a letter to new publisherAlmar Latour to criticize the opinion pages' "lack offact-checking and transparency, and its apparent disregard for evidence", adding that "opinion articles often make assertions that are contradicted byWSJ reporting."[121][122] The editorial board responded that its opinion pages "won't wilt under cancel-culture pressure" and that the objective of the editorial content is to be independent of theJournal's news content and offer alternative views to "the uniform progressive views that dominate nearly all of today's media."[123] The board's response did not address issues regarding fact-checking that had been raised in the letter.[124]
In the 1900s, theJournal supported theantitrust efforts of PresidentTheodore Roosevelt. However, after the ownership change from Dow to Barron, theJournal became far more unequivocally supportive of free-market economics in the 1920s.[27] One editorial in March 1928 criticized Congressional efforts to regulate the securities industry: "People who know nothing about credit, surplus bank funds, collateral, call loans or anything else germane to the question profess to be terrified when the Stock Exchange loans attain the figure of $4 billion or more."[125]
On April 14, 1932, theJournal published a commentary by former editorThomas F. Woodlock criticizing theGlass–Steagall banking regulation bill: "There are those who cannot endure the sight of autonomous securities markets beyond the control of legislatures, bureaucrats, and, in fact, of courts."[31]
In the 1980s, the newspaper's editorial page was particularly influential as the leading voice forsupply-side economics. Under the editorship ofRobert L. Bartley, it expounded at length on economic concepts such as theLaffer curve, and how a decrease in certain marginal tax rates and thecapital gains tax could allegedly increase overall tax revenue by generating more economic activity.[126]
Mark Rutte (on right), prime minister of theNetherlands, being interviewed by TheJournal in 2011
TheJournal's editorial pages and columns, run separately from the news pages, have aconservative bent and are highly influential in establishment conservative circles.[8] Despite this, theJournal refrains from endorsing candidates and has not endorsed a candidate since 1928.[128]
TheJournal's editorial page was seen as critical of many aspects ofBarack Obama's presidency. In particular, it has been a prominent critic of theAffordable Care Act legislation passed in 2010, and has featured many opinion columns attacking various aspects of the bill.[130] TheJournal's editorial page has also criticized theObama administration's energy policies and foreign policy.[131][132][133]
In October 2021, the Journal published a letter from former President Donald Trump in the Letters to the Editor section of the editorial pages. Other news sources described the contents of the letter as false and debunked claims about the2020 presidential election.[139][140][141] The next day, the editorial board published their own critique of Trump's letter.[142]
TheJournal editorial pages were described as a "forum forclimate change denial" in 2011 due to columns that attacked climate scientists and accused them of engaging in fraud.[143][144] A 2011 study found that theJournal was alone among major American print news media in how, mainly in its editorial pages, it adopted afalse balance that overplayed the uncertainty in climate science or denied anthropogenic climate change altogether.[145] That year, theAssociated Press described theJournal's editorial pages as "a place friendly to climate change skeptics".[146] In 2013, the editorial board and other opinion writers vocally criticized PresidentObama's plan to address climate change, mostly without mentioning climate science.[147] A 2015 study foundThe Wall Street Journal was the newspaper that was least likely to present negativeeffects of global warming among several newspapers. It was also the most likely to present negative economic framing when discussingclimate change mitigation policies, tending to take the stance that the cost of such policies generally outweighs their benefit.[145]
Climate Feedback, a fact-checking website on media coverage of climate science, determined that multiple opinion articles range between "low" and "very low" in terms of scientific credibility.[148][149] ThePartnership for Responsible Growth stated in 2016 that 14% of the guest editorials on climate change presented the results of "mainstream climate science", while the majority did not. The Partnership also determined that none of the 201 editorials concerning climate change that were published inThe Wall Street Journal since 1997 conceded that the burning offossil fuels is the maincause of climate change.[150]
In the 1980s and 1990s, theJournal published numerous opinion columns opposing and misrepresenting the scientific consensus on the harms ofsecond-hand smoke,[151][152][153]acid rain, andozone depletion,[154] in addition to public policy efforts to curb pesticides and asbestos.[155][156][157][158][159] TheJournal later recognized that efforts to curb acid rain through cap-and-trade had been successful, a decade after the Clean Air Act Amendments.[160]
TheJournal's reporting has been described as "small-c conservatism".[117] Some of theJournal's former editors and reporters, such asSarah Ellison (aWashington Post reporter as of October 2025),[161] say that the paper has adopted a more conservative tone sinceRupert Murdoch's purchase.[162][163][164]
Its editors stress the independence and impartiality of their reporters.[73] According to CNN in 2007, theJournal's "newsroom staff has a reputation for non-partisan reporting."[165] Ben Smith of theNew York Times described theJournal's news reporting as "small-c [conservative]", and noted that its readership leans further to the right than that of other major newspapers.[117]
Under the ownership of Clarence W. Barron, theJournal generally restricted editorializing to its opinion pages, but a 1922 series of news articles described theorganized labor movement as having "one of the most sordid records of humanity".[166]
In a 2004 study, Tim Groseclose andJeffrey Milyo argue theJournal's news pages have a pro-liberal bias because they more often quote liberal think tanks. They calculated the ideological attitude of news reports in 20 media outlets by counting the frequency they cited particularthink tanks and comparing that to the frequency that legislators cited the same think tanks. They found that the news reporting of theJournal was the most liberal (more liberal thanNPR orThe New York Times). The study did not factor in editorials.[167]Mark Liberman criticized the model used to calculate bias in the study and argued that the model unequally affected liberals and conservatives and that "the model starts with a very peculiar assumption about the relationship between political opinion and the choice of authorities to cite." The authors assume that "think tank ideology ... only matters to liberals."[168]
The company's planned and eventual acquisition byNews Corp in 2007 led to significant media criticism and discussionabout whether the news pages would exhibit a rightward slant underRupert Murdoch.[169] An August 1, 2007, editorial responded to the questions by asserting that Murdoch intended to "maintain the values and integrity of theJournal".[170]
In 2016 and 2017, theJournal leadership under Baker came under fire from critics[who?], who viewed the paper's coverage of PresidentDonald Trump as too timid.[171] Particularly controversial was theJournal's November 2016 front-page headline that repeated Trump's false claim that "millions of people" had voted illegally in theelection, only noting that the statement was "without corroboration".[171]
Also controversial was a January 2017 note from Baker toJournal editors, directing them to avoid using the phrase "seven majority-Muslim countries" when writing aboutTrump's executive order on travel and immigration; Baker later sent a follow-up note "clarifying that there was 'no ban'" on the phrase, "but that the publication should 'always be careful that this term is not offered as the only description of the countries covered under the ban.'"[171]
At a town-hall-style meeting withJournal staff in February 2017, Baker defended the paper's coverage, saying that it was objective and protected the paper from being "dragged into the political process" through a dispute with the Trump administration.[171]
On February 19, 2020, China announced the revoking of the press credentials of threeWall Street Journal reporters based in Beijing. China accused the paper of failing to apologize for publishing articles that criticized China's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and failing to investigate and punish those responsible.[172]
In June 2020, following themurder of George Floyd andsubsequent protests, journalists at theJournal sent a letter to editor in chiefMatt Murray demanding changes to the way the paper covers race, policing and finance. The reporters stated that they "frequently meet resistance when trying to reflect the accounts and voices of workers, residents or customers, with some editors voicing heightened skepticism of those sources' credibility compared with executives, government officials or other entities".[173]
TheJournal has won 39Pulitzer Prizes in its history. Staff journalists who led some of the newspaper's best-known coverage teams have later published books that summarized and extended their reporting.
In 1939,Vermont C. Royster wrote a series of articles showing the length of time required forWorld War I battleships to be ready for duty. One story summarized the process of manufacturing armor plates. The U.S. Navy accused Royster, then a Naval Reserve officer, of using classified information for his reporting. Royster said that he obtained the information fromEncyclopedia Britannica.[174]
In October 1952, the Chicago bureau of theJournal received a press release announcing thatHoward Hughes sold his controlling interest inRKO Pictures to the Empire Mail Order Company. Managing editor Henry Gemmill led reporting efforts that resulted in articles in late 1952 exposing links between Empire Mail Order and organized crime. Following these stories, Hughes canceled the RKO sale. These stories also led to the first major industry award for theJournal, aSigma Delta Chi public service award for these stories.[43]
On May 28, 1954, theJournal published a front-page story by John Williams revealing designs of 1955 automobiles byFord,Pontiac, and other auto makers. Williams had talked to factory workers and auto executives for several weeks. The story revealed that the cars would have larger engines and wrap-around windshields. The inclusion of drawings was notable for being a rare use of graphics by theJournal of the time. Nearly a week later,General Motors canceled its nearly $250,000 in advertising with theJournal; GM presidentHarlow Curtice accused theJournal of copyright infringement and breach of confidentiality.[175]Richard Tofel ofProPublica commented on this story in 2015: "The little-remembered incident helped establish the notion that news organizations could and should preserve their independence from advertisers."[176]
On August 7, 1973, in an article byJerry Landauer, theJournal was the first publication to report that U.S. Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew was under federal investigation on bribery, extortion, and tax fraud charges. Agnew released a statement confirming the investigation on the night before theJournal article was published.[177][178] After pleading no contest to one charge of income tax evasion, Agnew was sentenced to a $10,000 fine and three-year suspended jail sentence. On the same day of his sentencing, Agnew resigned as vice president on October 10, 1973.[179]
On April 6, 1984, theJournal first revealed, in a story by David Rogers, that theCentral Intelligence Agency had placedacoustic mines on harbors in Nicaragua, following initial belief that opponents of theSandinista government had been responsible.[180][181] AsLou Cannon recounted in his 1991 bookPresident Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime, this story led to "an international outcry".[180] Nearly week after thisJournal story, in a speech on the Senate floor and a stern letter to CIA directorWilliam J. Casey, U.S. SenatorBarry Goldwater (Republican of Arizona) condemned the lack of disclosure by the Reagan administration about the mining actions.[182][183] By an 84–12 margin, the Senate passed a "sense of the Congress" resolution introduced by SenatorTed Kennedy (Democrat of Massachusetts) "against the mining of Nicaraguan ports and the withdrawal of World Court jurisdiction over Central America."[184]
In 1987, a bidding war ensued between several financial firms for tobacco and food giantRJR Nabisco. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar documented the events in more than two dozenJournal articles. Burrough and Helyar later used these articles as the basis of a bestselling book,Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, which was turned into afilm for HBO.
In the 1980s, then-Journal reporterJames B. Stewart brought national attention to the illegal practice ofinsider trading. He was awarded thePulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism in 1988, which he shared withDaniel Hertzberg,[185] who went on to serve as the paper's senior deputy managing editor before resigning in 2009. Stewart expanded on this theme in his 1991 book,Den of Thieves.[186]
David Sanford, a Page One features editor who was infected withHIV in 1982 in a bathhouse, wrote a front-page personal account of how, with the assistance of improved treatments for HIV, he went from planning his death to planning his retirement.[187] He and six other reporters wrote about the new treatments, political and economic issues, and won the 1997Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting aboutAIDS.[188]
Jonathan Weil, a reporter at the Dallas bureau ofThe Wall Street Journal, is credited with first breaking the story of financial abuses atEnron in September 2000.[189]Rebecca Smith andJohn R. Emshwiller reported on the story regularly,[190] and wrote a book,24 Days. In October 2021, theJournal released Bad Bets, a podcast that recounted the papers reporting on Enron.[191]
TheJournal claims to have sent the first news report, on the Dow Jones wire, of a plane crashing into theWorld Trade Center onSeptember 11, 2001.[192] Its headquarters, atOne World Financial Center, was severely damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center just across the street.[193] Top editors worried that they might miss publishing the first issue for the first time in the paper's 112-year history. They relocated to a makeshift office at an editor's home, while sending most of the staff to Dow Jones'sSouth Brunswick Township, New Jersey, corporate campus.[194] The paper was on the stands the next day, albeit in scaled-down form. The front page included a first-hand account of the Twin Towers' collapse written by then-Foreign Editor John Bussey.[193] Holed up in a ninth-floor office next to the towers, he phoned in live reports toCNBC as the towers burned.[193] He narrowly escaped serious injury when the first tower collapsed, shattering all the windows in theJournal's offices and filling them with dust and debris. TheJournal won a2002 Pulitzer Prize inBreaking News Reporting for that day's stories.[195][194]
TheJournal subsequently conducted a worldwide investigation of the causes and significance of 9/11, using contacts it had developed while covering business in the Arab world. InKabul, Afghanistan, reporters Alan Cullison and Andrew Higgins bought a pair of looted computers thatAl Qaeda leaders had used to plan assassinations, chemical and biological attacks, and mundane daily activities. The encrypted files were decrypted and translated.[196][197] It was during this coverage that terrorists kidnapped and killedJournal reporterDaniel Pearl.
In 2015, a report written by theJournal'sJohn Carreyrou alleged that blood testing companyTheranos' technology was faulty and founderElizabeth Holmes was misleading investors.[198][199][200] According toVanity Fair, "a damning report published inThe Wall Street Journal had alleged that the company was, in effect, a sham—that its vaunted core technology was actually faulty and that Theranos administered almost all of its blood tests using competitors' equipment."[199] TheJournal has subsequently published several more reports questioning Theranos' and Holmes' credibility.[201][202] In May 2018, Carreyrou released a book about Theranos,Bad Blood.[203]
Rupert Murdoch—at the time a major investor in Theranos and owner of theJournal—lost approximately $100 million in his investments in Theranos.[204]
2018–present: Investigation into Stormy Daniels payment
On January 12, 2018,Michael Rothfeld andJoe Palazzolo reported inThe Wall Street Journal that during the2016 presidential campaign, then-candidateDonald Trump's personal lawyer,Michael Cohen coordinated a $130,000 payment toStormy Daniels for her silence regarding an alleged affair. In subsequent reports, the method of payment and many other details were extensively covered. In April of that year,FBI agents stormed Cohen's home, seizing records related to the transaction.[205] On August 21, 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts including campaign finance violations in connection with the Daniels payment.[206] The coverage earned theJournal the 2019Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.[207]
In 2021, an internaldocument leak from the company then known as Facebook (nowMeta Platforms, or Meta) showed it was aware of harmful societal effects from its platforms, yet persisted in prioritizing profit over addressing these harms. The leak, released bywhistleblowerFrances Haugen, resulted in reporting fromThe Wall Street Journal in September, asThe Facebook Files series, as well as theFacebook Papers, by a consortium of news outlets the next month.
Primarily, the reports revealed that, based on internally-commissioned studies, the company was fully aware of negative impacts on teenage users ofInstagram, and the contribution ofFacebook activity to violence in developing countries. Other takeaways of the leak include the impact of the company's platforms on spreading false information, and Facebook's policy of promoting inflammatory posts.Furthermore, Facebook was fully aware that harmful content was being pushed through Facebook algorithms reaching young users. The types of content included posts promotinganorexia nervosa andself-harm photos.
In June 2024Wall Street Journal editors learned thatWSJ journalistSelina Cheng was a candidate for the leadership of theHong Kong Journalists Association, a local press union. Cheng's editor demanded that she withdraw from the election and from participation in the union. However, the right to stand for election and participate in a union without employer consent are established under Hong Kong employment law. Cheng did not withdraw and was elected to the leadership role.[216][217][218][219] In July 2024, the paper's chief editor Gordon Fairclough travelled to Hong Kong and fired her from her role at theWSJ. In response to press queries, theWSJ declined to comment on Cheng's case except to acknowledge there had been "restructuring'". Cheng responded that the restructuring was a layoff of one person.[220]
The paper's action against Cheng attracted criticism from media organisations, press unions and human rights proponents across the globe.[221][222][223] Chinese state media, meanwhile, celebrated her sacking, with theGlobal Times, a tabloid owned by theChinese Communist Party, calling the press union "a malignant tumour that harms the city's safety and security".[224][222] When Hong Kong's security minister made a similar statement, Cheng responded that theWall Street Journal had fired her to avoid being seen as advocating press freedom in the city.[225][220] In November 2024, Cheng filed a civil lawsuit in Hong Kong against the newspaper over her firing.[226][227]
In February 2025, criminal proceedings against theWSJ began in Hong Kong.[228]
In a series of articles about News Corp, Australian online news outletCrikey described Cheng's firing as part of "turmoil" at theWSJ and that "the global purging of newsrooms is as much about creating a politically correct workforce of reliable journalistic cadres as it is about simply saving costs."[229]
TheU.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission annual report noted the significance of the event as demonstrating "the pressures on foreign media to self-censor in line with theCCP's requirements". It concluded that theWSJ's action "calls into question claims that foreign businesses have been unaffected by the new atmosphere following the passage of theNSL andArticle 23 Ordinance".[230]
On July 17, 2025, the newspaper reported that, in 2003, Donald Trump had sent convicted child sex offenderJeffrey Epstein a 50th birthday card.[231] The next day, Trump (then a sitting president) sued the newspaper, alleging two counts of defamation and seeking at least $10 billion for each count. It was believed to be the first time a sitting president had ever sued a journalist or media outlet for personal defamation.[232] The case was assigned to JudgeDarrin Gayles.[233] On July 21, WSJ was also removed from the White House press pool for Trump's trip to Scotland.[234] Two days later, WSJ reported that Trump was informed by the Justice Department in May that his name was found in theEpstein Files.[235]
Misinformation on the assassination of Charlie Kirk
Early reporting, notably inThe Wall Street Journal, falsely said that the inscriptions on the bullets were found as having messaging related to "transgender ideology", citing what they claimed was an internal bulletin of the ATF.[236] These reports were met with calls for caution from trans journalists—who said that "transgender ideology" was a term commonly used in right-wing circles to frame transgender identity as a political choice—andThe New York Times reported that a senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said that the alleged bulletin had not been verified, and that it did not match other summaries of evidence; however, prominent conservative figures still seized onThe Wall Street Journal's report to call forfurther action against the trans community, including banning pride flags and incarcerating all transgender people en masse.[236][237]
When the details of the actual messages, which did not contain any such references, were made public, theHuman Rights Campaign published an open letter demanding a retraction and a public apology for publishing of the misinformation, saying: "This reporting was reckless and irresponsible, and it led to a wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers—and a resulting wave of terror for a community that is already living in fear."[236][238]The Wall Street Journal later amended the story with a note from the editor but did not issue a retraction.[239][240][241]
More transgender conspiracy theories were spread after it was reported that the suspected shooter had a transgender partner, with some speculating that Robinson may have been motivated to kill Kirk because ofKirk's views and rhetoric on transgender people. Jacey Thornton, an executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Rainbow Utah, noted, "It sounds like [they're] really stretching to find a way to tie this in to the trans community", adding that this is "very harmful to this ongoing dialogue that's happening, especially on social media".[242][243] This theorizing was further amplified by the timing of the Charlie Kirk assassination, which occurred less than one month after a transgender individualshot and killed 2 children and wounded 21 others atAnnunciation Catholic Church inMinneapolis on August 27, 2025.[244]
On the Money (2013 TV series) – the current title of a CNBC-produced program known asThe Wall Street Journal Report from 1970 until the CNBC/Dow Jones split in January 2013.
^Caulfield, Mike (January 8, 2017),"National Newspapers of Record",Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, Self-published, archived fromthe original on October 2, 2020, retrievedJuly 20, 2020
^Yochai Benkler; Robert Faris; Hal Roberts (2018).Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. Oxford University Press. pp. 353–354.ISBN978-0-19-092364-8.Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. RetrievedOctober 30, 2023.One of our clearest and starkest findings is the near disappearance of center-right media. There is theWall Street Journal, with its conservative editorial page but continued commitment to journalistic standards in its reporting; and to some extentThe Hill plays a center-right role. Both sites appear in the center of the partisan landscape according to our data because readers on the right did not pay attention to these sites any more than readers on the left did.
^"National Reporting".The Pulitzer Prizes.Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. RetrievedAugust 3, 2022.2019 – Staff of The Wall Street Journal: For uncovering President Trump's secret payoffs to two women during his campaign who claimed to have had affairs with him, and the web of supporters who facilitated the transactions, triggering criminal inquiries, and calls for impeachment.
^"World's Best-Designed winners (2006)".The Society for News Design - SND. Society for News Design. February 23, 2011.Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. RetrievedOctober 8, 2013.
^Ellison, Sarah (2010).War at the Wall Street Journal: Inside the Struggle To Control an American Business Empire. Boston:Mariner Books.ISBN978-0-547-15243-1.
^Stecklow, Steve; Patrick, Aaron O.; Peers, Martin; Higgins, Andrew (June 5, 2007)."In Murdoch's Career, A Hand on the News".The Wall Street Journal. p. A1. Archived fromthe original on December 13, 2007. RetrievedSeptember 23, 2024.
^The Editorial Board (July 23, 2020)."A Note to Readers".The Wall Street Journal. Archived fromthe original on December 24, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 23, 2024.
^Wagner, Michael W., and Timothy P. Collins. "Does Ownership Matter? The case of Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the Wall Street Journal".Journalism Practice (2014) 8#6 pp: 1–14.onlineArchived October 11, 2018, at theWayback Machine
Vardy, Mark; Oppenheimer, Michael; Dubash, Navroz K.; O'Reilly, Jessica; Jamieson, Dale (October 17, 2017)."The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities".Annual Review of Environment and Resources.42 (1):55–75.doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-102016-061053.ISSN1543-5938.One of the tactics successfully used to discredit climate science is typified by Frederick Seitz's 1996 commentary inThe Wall Street Journal in which he argued that the IPCC did not follow its own rules for peer review. Subsequent analysis showed that the IPCC did not transgress any of its rules of peer review, which in fact are more rigorous than the standards of peer review that academic journals typically try to uphold
Shaun W. Elsasser, Riley E. Dunlap:Leading Voices in the Denier Choir: Conservative Columnists' Dismissal of Global Warming and Denigration of Climate Science.American Behavioral Scientist 57, No. 6, 2013, 754–776,doi:10.1177/0002764212469800 "... and clearly Fox, leading conservative newspapers such as the WSJ ... provide powerful provide powerful fora for the promotion of climate change denial."
Cassella, Carly (June 12, 2018)."The Wall Street Journal Still Treats Climate Change as "Opinion", And This Practice Needs to Stop".ScienceAlert.Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. RetrievedAugust 3, 2022.For years, the WSJ has run opinion piece after opinion piece, questioning the reality of anthropogenic climate change. Too often, these "opinions" are written by authors with strong ties to the fossil fuel industry. In May of 2018, for example, the WSJ published an article that proclaimed, "Sea levels are rising, but not because of climate change."
^Lerbinger, Otto (August 15, 2006).Corporate Public Affairs: Interacting With Interest Groups, Media, and Government. Routledge. p. 161.ISBN978-1-135-59999-7.
Douai, Aziz, and Terry Wu. "News as business: the global financial crisis and Occupy movement in the Wall Street Journal".Journal of International Communication 20.2 (2014): 148–167.
Merrill, John C., and Harold A. Fisher.The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980), pp. 338–41.
Rosenberg, Jerry M.Inside The Wall Street Journal: The History and the Power of Dow Jones & Company and America's Most Influential Newspaper (1982)onlineArchived January 11, 2019, at theWayback Machine
Sakurai, Takuya. "Framing a Trade Policy: An Analysis of The Wall Street Journal Coverage of Super 301".Intercultural Communication Studies 24.3 (2015).onlineArchived March 8, 2021, at theWayback Machine
Steinbock, Dan. "Building dynamic capabilities: The Wall Street Journal interactive edition: A successful online subscription model (1993–2000)".International Journal on Media Management 2.3-4 (2000): 178–194.
Yarrow, Andrew L. "The big postwar story: Abundance and the rise of economic journalism".Journalism History 32.2 (2006): 58+onlineArchived November 13, 2018, atArchive-It
Previously the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time from 1953–1963 and the Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting from 1964–1984
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