A Wall Street Magazine?

“A Wall Street Journal Magazine” the headline alone was enough to catch my attention in this week’s news. The article by The New York Times reported that next year Pursuits, a glossy monthly magazine about the lifestyles of the rich, will be created by The Wall Street Journal in hopes of drawing more ads for expensive consumer goods. Robert Frank, a columnist, blogger and author about wealthy America is the leading candidate to become editor of Pursuits.

The first issue will appear next September as an insert in the Journal’s Saturday edition and will go to about 800,000 Journal subscribers in the 18 metropolitan areas where the newspaper sells the most copies. Pursuits will also be available to all readers on The Journal’s Website.

In a Dow Jones news release Marcus W. Brauchli, The Journal's managing editor, said:

Pursuits will offer compelling journalism, vivid imagery and an unmatched guide to wealth, fashion, collecting and travel.

The news of Pursuits comes after Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, mused publicly about turning the entire Saturday edition into a magazine.

While I must agree that the idea of Pursuits is an innovative idea and an excellent move towards attracting a younger generation of readers the thought of turning the entire Saturday edition into a magazine is quite disturbing. One of the reasons The Wall Street Journal is so successful is because it has such a high reputation among news readers. I’m afraid that Rupert Murdoch might take the success of Pursuits to far when it comes to the rest of The Wall Street Journal.