NEW YORK, Dec. 12 Rupert Murdoch suggested removing "Wall Street" from The Wall Street Journal's name to give it broader appeal, a published report in New York said Wednesday.
The idea was quickly dismissed, as was talk of a front page with articles short enough to start and end there rather than continuing on inside pages, The New York Times reported.
"But the fact that they were raised even semiseriously shows how unconstrained by tradition" the News Corp. chairman is, the Times said.
Shareholders of Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. are expected to approve Dow Jones' $5 billion sale to Murdoch's company Thursday.
But even before he takes over, Murdoch has decided to eliminate the Journal's Marketplace section, containing articles on business trends and technology, early next year, with a new section taking its place, the Times said.
The Journal's Washington bureau will be increased and two to three dozen people in a news staff of about 750 will be replaced, the Times said.
The aim isn't to reduce headcount but to make room for a wave of hiring, the Times said.
News Corp. is shopping for reporters and editors to hire away from Journal competitors, the Times said.
Murdoch also has personally wooed Journal reporters he wants to keep out of competitors' hands, the Times said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
