(Staci
Kramer interviews Gordon at FOBM).

On
Print versus Online

Currently, when a new subscriber becomes a print
subscriber they’re almost always subscribing to both the print and online
journals. WSJ sells print and online
together at a single price and has experienced 7 quarters in a row of increased
circulation revenue.

Why is print improving?

One reason is the bundling described above.

Another reason is that WSJ sought to “reorient the
print journal … [attempting to make it] … more relevant to the audience."

The journal reporter is tasked with taking a
corporate earning story, for example, and turning it into something that is
essential on the online journal and then essential the next day in print.

The online version focuses on news. The print version puts news in context and adds
perspective.

To engage the online audience, the WSJ has also started
developing content and features in different verticals. Media companies
traditionally served broad audiences. Developing verticals is an attempt to engage audiences more deeply.

One example is the WSJ legal homepage. WSJ has brought on Peter
Lattman “a talented blogger that has attracted an extraordinary audience of
engaged lawyers.”

On
Working with Yahoo and Google

Someone in the audience asked: when you look at
Yahoo finance they’ve built quite a business leveraging WSJ and MarketWatch
content. How do you address that? How important is it to you to control your
advertising inventory rather than outsource it (to Google)?

On the Internet, “other news sources are only a
mouse click away online.” WSJ’s goal is to work with others and to be creative.

As for Google, they reach advertisers that the WSJ
couldn’t reach on their own (small advertisers through search). It’s a complementary relationship.

On
the News Corp Acquisition

Gordon says he sometimes thinks that he’s the last
person on the planet that has newspaper and publisher in his title and is still
an optimist.

Being part of News Corp. will be a cause for
greater optimism.