Murdoch's mistake?

When Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation bought The Wall Street Journal, many people feared that Murdoch would put pressure on the Journal to slant its coverage towards his political interests. What they didn't seem to consider is that Murdoch might make a bigger mistake- striking right at the Journal's heart.

According to The New York Times, Murdoch wants to make the Journal into a general interest newspaper, to compete directly with the Times. All right- until you consider that on the whole, general interest newspapers are losing subscribers. Publications that target smaller, more specific audiences, however, seem to be relatively stable, as in the magazine world or certain Web sites. The Journal has a core following of people interested in business news, and to change the format is to risk alienating loyal subscribers. That may be the mistake no one saw coming.