The WSJ Was Right to Fire Its Tech Newsroom
Earlier this month, the WSJ announced significant changes to its tech newsroom. A dozen tech reporters and long-serving editors were fired in a restructuring that amounted to a rethink of how it covers the tech industry. Those let go included beat reporters for Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, AI, semiconductors, and video games. The new team, based in New York and overseen by Sarah Krouse who was most recently in charge of WSJ’s entertainment vertical, will jettison company-specific verticals. The changes are part of a larger shift that the WSJ undertook to win back lost relevancy and credibility.
WSJ CEO and publisher Almar Latour was somewhat up front in explaining the rationale behind disbanding the tech newsroom:
Increase engagement.
Grow readership.
Enhance quality.
In terms of the way the WSJ’s actions were covered by other tech-focused publications, moral outrage and virtue signaling were rampant.
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