End of an Era

In my heart I am a journalist, so it pains me to give up on a newspaper. But after more years then I can remember, I’ve decided that I can no longer tolerate the ‘new direction’ Rupert Murdoch has taken the Wall Street Journal.

I used to revel in the autonomy of the news pages-reporting news objectively while the editorial pages remained decidedly conservative. Unfortunately I fear their editorial bias has crept into the news pages and while they are just about the only print publication expanding their staff, I no longer have confidence in their editorial decisions.

It wasn’t any one article, just a long held view and the fact that my subscription renewal came and I’ve decided not to take them up on their special offer.

That the paper has changed direction from the business-focused publication that I wanted, to a more general-focus newspaper, was also a factor but I could have handled that, as long as the financial news I wanted was still there.

I’m sure Rupert will not be shedding any tears at my departure and he’ll point to the fact that his creation now has the largest national circulation in the US but he’ll have to suffer along without me. (that’s if you include web subscriptions)

I’ll make due with the Financial Times, New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and my online visits to the Boston Globe, my Twitter feeds and various blogs.

Now if I can just make it until the 3G version of the iPad is available and I can carry everything with me, I’ll be in great shape.

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