Dow Jones' Electronic Division Launches R&D Unit

By: Jay DeFoore PaidContent.org today reports that Dow Jones' Electronic Publishing unit has launched an R&D division called Dow Jones Labs.

Rafat Ali writes that the unit was formed after the company's MarketWatch acquisition in 2005 and is based in Minneapolis, which was the home base of BigCharts, a company Dow Jones bought in 1999.

Ali reports that the unit has launched the "Live Quotes" function on MarketWatch.com and will also launch a feature called "Live News" in the near future.

Gordon Crovitz, president of Dow Jones Electronic Publishing, tells Ali: "Later this year, we'll launch MyWSJ.com as a new way to personalize the Online Journal, which we're confident will become the new web standard for permitting users to configure a site for their own interests. Other initiatives include new web-surveillance and artificial intelligence techniques to help us break news."

Other recent examples of newspaper companies thinking strategic:

* Boston Globe Media, a unit formed last December to maximize the potential of The New York Times Company's New England properties, hires Jay Fogarty as vice president of strategic planning. (Jan. 23, 2006)
* Tribune hires Daniel E. Hess to the newly created position of vice president/strategic marketing.
* Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive hires veteran technology and business journalist Jonathan Krim as Director of Strategic Initiatives. (Dec. 9, 2005)
* The New York Times Company hires Online Publisher's Association president Michael Zimbalist to head its newly created R&D operations. (Dec. 8, 2005)

Also see:

* 'Sac Bee' Public Editor Explains Paper's Digital Future
* 'Boston Globe' Ombud Explains Paper's WiFi Future
* Gannett Buys Minority Stake in Mobile Search Firm 4INFO