'WSJ' Publisher Crovitz Following Zannino Out Door

By: E&P Staff Wall Street Journal Publisher L. Gordon Crovitz will resign when Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. closes its deal to acquire Dow Jones & Co., the newspaper announced Friday.

Crovitz, who is also executive vice president of Dow Jones and president of its Consumer Media Group, will write a column for the Journal after the deal closes.

In a memo to Journal staffers Friday, Crovitz said, "The Wall Street Journal franchise has never been more vibrant. The print Journal was redesigned early this year as the first newspaper rethought for how people get their news in this Digital Age. The results include an industry-leading seven straight quarters of increases in circulation revenue."

Dow Jones also announced that Joseph A. Stern, executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, and member of the Dow Jones board of directors, will be leaving those positions when the acquisition closes. Dow Jones said Stern will remain with the company through March 31, 2008 to assist in the transition.

The Crovitz and Stern resignations follow Thursday's announcement that Dow Jones CEO Richard F. Zannino is also leaving the company after the close of the News Corp. acquisition.

In a statement Friday, Zannino said, "Gordon Crovitz has made many important contributions during a distinguished 25-year career at Dow Jones, most recently as head of the Consumer Media Group and publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Before successfully leading the Journal franchise during a time of profound change, he was president of the Electronic Publishing Group where he oversaw the launch and development of three of our most successful and profitable businesses -- WSJ.com, Factiva and Dow Jones Indexes. He previously served in Asia and Europe and in a range of business management and journalistic roles. Gordon has helped create much value for readers, shareholders and employees during his long career at Dow Jones."

News Corp. Chairman and CEO Murdoch said in a statement that Crovitz's "departure is a sad day for Dow Jones."

"With 25 years of brilliant service, he has made a huge contribution to the company," Murdoch continued. "I hope he will remain a professional and personal friend. Joe Stern has served the company with great distinction as its chief corporate counsel. With the end of Dow Jones as a public company, Joe's expertise would no longer have been fully utilized and we understand his decision to leave at this time."