The Wall Street Journal will combine sections and trim the size of its print edition to cope with advertising declines, the company announced on Wednesday.
The new version of its print edition will start Nov. 14 and combine several sections and reduce the size of some coverage areas. Coverage of arts, culture and local news will take a hit but Journal execs promised that business coverage will “remain largely the same.”
“All newspapers face structural challenges and we must move to create a print edition that can stand on a sound financial footing for the foreseeable future while our digital horizons continue to expand,” Editor Gerard Baker told staffers in an email on Wednesday.
Like most major players in the newspaper industry, the Journal has been forced to make cutbacks because of an industry-wide decline in print advertising. The paper has also offered buyouts to employees and warned of possible layoffs.
The updated, trimmed-down version of the Journal will feature just two large sections on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. A third section will be added on Mondays and Fridays while the weekend edition of the paper will remain unchanged.
The Personal Journal and Arena sections will be combined into a new section called “Life & Arts,” which will become part of the A section and feature coverage of culture, sports, art and lifestyle. The Greater New York section will also be drastically reduced.