Name: The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom
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The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom

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HOME&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;LATEST STORY&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Feb. 9, 2021, 10:29 a.m.The campaign reflects an “increasingly digital” readership, including new subscribers without the experience of holding clearly separated news and opinion sections in their hands.There’s an at The Wall Street Journal that subscribers get “two newspapers for the price of one.” One is produced by the Journal’s business-focused newsroom and the other by the paper’s right-leaning opinion section.The tension between the two is longstanding but the dispute became unprecedentedly public in 2020. Nearly 300 news staffers criticized their editorial counterparts’ “lack of fact-checking and transparency” in &nbsp;They pointed, in particular, to an op-ed by Vice President Mike Pence ( in June), cherry-picked statistics and “misinformation” in&nbsp; and “basic factual inaccuracies about taxes” in ” among other examples. The opinion section responded publicly, in “,” claiming the newsroom’s frustration was an example of “progressive cancel culture.” The public back-and-forth was described as part of playing out at multiple news organizations controlled — as The Wall Street Journal is — by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.It was more than bickering. The news staffers said the opinion department’s “apparent disregard for evidence undermine[s] our readers’ trust and our ability to gain credibility with sources” and noted false and misleading claims have risked the safety of journalists at home and abroad. The news staffers’ very first proposal? Making the differences “between reporting and Opinion” at The Wall Journal unmistakably clear, especially to those reading the Journal online.Enter: . The campaign — produced in partnership with the nonprofit — puts the words of editor in chief Matthew Murray and editorial page editor Paul A. Gigot side by side and highlights how the Journal labels news and opinion pieces online. (That goldish brown appears to be the opinion color; The Washington Post to label its editorial pieces, too.)By underlining the bright line between its news and opinion sections, the Journal is seeking to protect one of its most valuable assets: its position as both sides of the aisle tend to agree on. Pew found last year that the Journal is one of just three news organization ; the other two are PBS and the BBC., the chief marketing officer at The Wall Street Journal, said the campaign is also a reflection of the fact that the Journal’s business is “increasingly digital.” Of 3.22 million subscriptions — up 19% from 2019 — 2.46 million are digital-only, according to . (Watford said the news organization saw new subscribers and amid the market madness of GameStop. “It’s Journal gold, isn’t it?”)The difference between news and opinion is fairly apparent in print — you’re holding one section or the other — but Watford says their reader research indicates that new readers may be less likely to appreciate the difference.“We’re very conscious of those new audiences and wanting to make sure they understand what makes the Wall Street Journal and what the differences between news and opinion are — and more generally, why you can trust our news so much,” Watford said.Watford said they’ll continue to test new ways of displaying — and differentiating — opinion content, particularly for readers “coming in sideways” via links on social media. They’re thinking about giving areas, such as ethical standards, their own microsite in the future.“You’re not necessarily coming to the homepage where everything is clearly delineated in terms of sections,” Watford pointed out. “That’s always been there and it was very much translated through print. We’ll continue to test, get feedback, and improve upon that.”SHARE THIS STORY&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What’s the best way to follow how the news is changing?Our daily email, with all the freshest future-of-journalism news.MLAScire, Sarah. "The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 9 Feb. 2021. Web. 17 Feb. 2021.APAScire, S. (2021, Feb. 9). The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved February 17, 2021, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/02/the-wall-street-journal-says-it-wants-to-help-readers-identify-opinion-pieces-but-the-campaigns-real-audience-may-be-its-own-newsroom/ChicagoScire, Sarah. "The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified February 9, 2021. Accessed February 17, 2021. https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/02/the-wall-street-journal-says-it-wants-to-help-readers-identify-opinion-pieces-but-the-campaigns-real-audience-may-be-its-own-newsroom/.Wikipedia{{cite web&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/02/the-wall-street-journal-says-it-wants-to-help-readers-identify-opinion-pieces-but-the-campaigns-real-audience-may-be-its-own-newsroom/&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| title = The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| last = Scire&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| first = Sarah&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| date = 9 February 2021&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| accessdate = 17 February 2021&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;| ref = {{harvid|Scire|2021}}}}Join the 50,000 who get the freshest future-of-journalism news in our daily email.Help advance the Nieman Foundation’s mission “to promote and elevate the standards of journalism” .© 2021 by the President and Fellows of Harvard CollegeWalter Lippmann HouseOne Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138617 495 2237The Nieman Journalism Lab is a collaborative attempt to figure out how quality journalism can survive and thrive in the Internet age.It’s a project of the .Follow usThe basicsProjectsDirectorStaff writers© President and Fellows of Harvard College, unless otherwise noted.

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The Wall Street Journal says it wants to help readers identify opinion pieces — but the campaign’s real audience may be its own newsroom

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