Wall Street Journal to debut new version of print edition

NEW YORK – The Wall Street Journal plans to combine several sections and reduce some coverage areas in its print edition as it faces a decline in print advertising.

“All newspapers face structural challenges and we must move to create a print edition that can stand on a sound financial footing for the foreseeable future while our digital horizons continue to expand,” Editor-in-chief Gerard Baker said in a memo announcing the changes Wednesday.

The new version, which will debut on Nov. 14, will have fewer pages with less space for arts, culture and New York news.

The paper will combine its Business & Tech and Money & Investing sections into one section to reduce costs. Lifestyle, arts, sports and cultural coverage will be incorporated into a section called Life & Arts. The Greater New York section will be reduced in size.

“I want to stress that these changes and their ramifications for the newsroom are necessary not just because we must adjust to changing conditions in the print advertising business, but because we know from audience research that readers want a more digestible newspaper,” Baker wrote.

The decline in print advertising is affecting newspapers across the board. On Wednesday, The New York Times Co. reported sharply lower revenue from advertising, particularly in print.