'You have to not be afraid to ask the obvious questions': How The Wall Street Journal's editor is remaking the paper

• Emma Tucker became The Wall Street Journal's first-ever female editor-in-chief successful 2023.
• Her extremity is to diversify and turn nan paper's subscriber base, and it seems to beryllium working.
• In an interview, she discussed staffing changes, a prescient communicative astir Joe Biden's perceived decline, and Evan Gershkovich, nan WSJ newsman precocious freed from a Russian jail.

In a grim news industry, The Wall Street Journal is simply a rare, accordant agleam spot: A big, successful, old-school publication that ne'er needed to fig retired a subscription strategy because it was ever successful nan business of trading subscriptions.

But nan Murdoch family, which owns nan Journal, still wanted to shingle things up astatine nan paper. So successful February 2023 it installed Emma Tucker, who antecedently ran nan UK's Sunday Times for nan Murdochs, arsenic nan Journal's editor-in-chief. Her mandate: Broaden nan paper's entreaty and subscriber base.

For folks who salary attraction to this benignant of thing, nan results are beautiful evident. Headlines are punchier and much clickable, and nan insubstantial has made a constituent of penning stories that break done nan sound — for illustration a June 4 communicative quoting Washington insiders who said President Joe Biden was "showing signs of slipping." Weeks later, Biden turned successful a disastrous statement performance.

Tucker has besides restaffed nan insubstantial and laid disconnected immoderate staff, which has led to complaints from immoderate corners of nan workforce. Readers look to for illustration nan changes, though: In nan past twelvemonth subscriptions accrued by 11%.

I talked to Tucker astir each of that, on pinch an update connected Journal newsman Evan Gershkovich, who was freed from a Russian jailhouse this summer, successful nan astir caller section of my Channels podcast. You tin publication edited excerpts of our speech below:

You were brought successful to update nan Journal and grow its audience. How do you do that?

It starts pinch reasoning really difficult each morning, each day, astir our audiences and asking ourselves "What does nan assemblage want from us? What tin we springiness them that is useful that adds worth to their lives?"

Everything flows from that. So we're doing things to make our audiences engaged, alternatively than reasoning astir "this is really we do things."

I deliberation location has been a inclination successful established news brands — who for a agelong clip had it each their ain measurement successful position of owning nan news — to do things nan measurement they deliberation they should beryllium done. Rather than genuinely putting themselves successful nan shoes of nan audience.

I presume your predecessors were besides reasoning astir their audience, too. Can you get a small much granular astir really your attack is different?

There's a inclination for established news organizations to deliberation they person to screen everything. And I deliberation arsenic nan news scenery evolves, we're knowing that that's not needfully nan case.

So immoderate of what we're reasoning astir is what do we not do anymore? What's not useful to Wall Street Journal readers?

I want to publication you an email I sewage from a Journal subscriber. The taxable statement is "New style for WSJ???" The email links to a communicative you ran successful June: "Luxury Real Estate World Rocked by Rape Allegations Against Star Brokers".

The personification who wrote that to maine is my father, who is simply a longtime Journal subscriber. He's astir Joe Biden's age. I don't deliberation he's going to time off nan Journal. But it seems to maine that he represents a people of readers who you want to support — but astatine nan aforesaid time, there's a caller assemblage you're trying to reach. How do you equilibrium those 2 constituencies?

Well, your dada picked a very circumstantial illustration there. But I person to opportunity that that was fundamentally a existent property story. And we cognize our subscribers, our readers, they perfectly emotion stories astir existent estate.

So this was a bully illustration of [telling a story] successful a much imaginative way. One of nan absorbing things is that — I mean, your dada aside; I dream he doesn't unsubscribe — we find that erstwhile we are imaginative astir really we show stories pinch caller audiences successful mind, nan existing audiences thin to emotion it. At nan extremity of nan day, it's amended storytelling.

Are you saying that astir readers are not for illustration my dada and that they invited nan new, punchier, headlines and sometimes much salacious communicative selection?

Absolutely. And it's borne retired by nan numbers. I mean, nan magnitude of clip that group walk reference The Wall Street Journal has gone up.

I cognize your subscription numbers are up complete nan past year: 11% digital, 7% general..

Subscription numbers are up. But what I'm willing successful is nan magnitude of clip that group walk reference us, nan number of visits they salary — and crucially, that nan churn complaint is down. That's a motion that group are little apt to unsubscribe because they're intelligibly emotion for illustration they're getting what they request from us.

I want to inquire astir different communicative you ran besides successful June. This header was Behind Closed Doors. Biden Shows Signs of Slipping. Obviously, that communicative was borne retired little than a period later, astatine nan debate. At nan time, location was a batch of disapproval from folks who said, "I don't cognize astir nan veracity of this. It's really telling that nan only on-the-record quotes you person saying that Biden is slipping are coming from Republicans for illustration Mike Johnson and Kevin McCarthy."

I've subsequently seen you opportunity you were vindicated successful that story. Have you ever gone backmost and said, "We were correct successful aggregate, but possibly we could person presented it a different way? Maybe we could person had much skepticism astir who was connected nan grounds saying that Joe Biden is slipping."

No, not really. I thought nan portion was very, very cautiously reported. It's ever going to beryllium tricky to get group to spell connected nan grounds for a communicative for illustration that. The reporters progressive were connected that communicative for specified a agelong time. They were highly rigorous. Our standards editor was each complete that story. I felt for illustration we had done nan activity required to break a communicative of that nature. And I was satisfied pinch what we did.

Can you picture nan pushback you sewage from nan White House arsenic you were reporting that story, and aft you published it?

Predictably, they weren't happy. I mean, we were inundated.

But I felt very assured successful nan story. I was assured successful nan reporting. I was assured astir nan processes we followed. And nan truth is it was an important portion of reporting, it was an important portion of journalism, and we were vindicated by it.

We weren't nan only group saying this. But it was very difficult to get that communicative complete nan line.

Is location an advantage to you being comparatively caller to nan Journal, and being from England, that gives you nan state to look astatine thing successful a different light, aliases say, "This point is obvious. How travel nary one's saying it retired loud?"

Or would immoderate editor person done nan aforesaid thing?

I deliberation immoderate editor would person done nan aforesaid thing.

But there's ever an advantage successful caller eyes. So we person brought caller group into nan newsroom who've sewage caller eyes. And nan operation of their caller eyes pinch nan talent and expertise that we've already sewage — it's great. It raises nan metabolism successful nan newsroom, and it's exciting.

And yeah, I did person wholly caller eyes. So I astir apt did inquire immoderate beautiful evident questions erstwhile I sewage present that astir apt had group laughing. You person to not beryllium acrophobic to inquire nan evident questions.

You mentioned bringing successful caller people. You've besides fto a batch of folks go. Those firings get covered a batch successful mediaworld. One of nan complaints is not conscionable that there's cuts — it's that these person been rolling cuts. Are nan cuts complete now? Are you done restructuring nan paper?

As I said correct astatine nan start, nan news manufacture is successful flux. There's nary uncertainty astir it. We've sewage caller challenges. We're still dealing pinch each nan challenges of nan past 10, 20 years. Now we've sewage caller challenges coming our measurement successful nan style of generative AI.

But location are different challenges retired there. People are switching disconnected from nan news. So newsrooms person to beryllium dynamic, conscionable for illustration their audiences are. What I'm doing is continuing to put successful nan newsroom. We've hired a batch of people. We've brought caller skills into nan newsroom truthful that we tin genuinely meet nan needs of The Wall Street Journal subscribers and early subscribers. We are a move newsroom, conscionable for illustration nan scenery we're seeking to navigate.

Are you done pinch that restructuring? Do you deliberation you've moved each nan bodies astir that you need?

I don't deliberation it would beryllium responsible of maine to opportunity we're done. I don't cognize what's coming astir nan corner, and we person to beryllium nimble. We've done a batch of things already. We're successful a bully place.

I americium mindful, though, that needs alteration and nan system changes. All sorts of things do. So honestly, "I don't know" is nan answer.

That's a adjacent answer. How do you support morale up? How do you support everyone rowing successful nan aforesaid guidance erstwhile they person these beautiful morganatic concerns?

Listen, nan group who are connected committee are truthful connected board. And we've sewage immoderate incredible, breathtaking talent successful nan newsroom, and they really understand what it is we're doing. We are a high-performing newsroom. We want nan champion journalists moving for us. And nan group present who are doing awesome activity are loving it.

Can you springiness america an update connected Evan Gershkovich, your newsman who was freed this summertime aft being unjustly jailed successful Russia?

He's back. But he's keeping a debased profile. He's very overmuch still portion of nan Journal. He's doing really well. He's taking clip now to stitchery his thoughts, get himself benignant of afloat backmost into nan world. And he's taking clip to constitute a book arsenic well.

When he is penning again for you connected a accordant basis, will he beryllium overseas again?

We're talking to him astir what he does next. It's going to beryllium up to him. He gets to decide. And nan 1 point I tin opportunity pinch absolute certainty is location is simply a spot for Evan astatine The Wall Street Journal. He's still a very weighted personnel of our newsroom. He needs clip now to benignant of rehabilitate, constitute his book. You whitethorn aliases whitethorn not spot a byline betwixt now and Christmas. He's doing really well.