Bravo to former Mitt Romney press secretary Kevin Madden for the RT of this correction from Journal economics editor David Wessel:

foot in mouth… RT @davidmwessel: WSJ correction: L. Silverberg is a podiatrist. He was incorrectly identified Monday as a

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CJR | LBJ Library & Museum
Ryan Chittum used Factiva to graph the number of stories over 1,500 words in the Journal since Murdoch bought the paper in 2007.

Chittum found a precipitous drop in stories over 1,500 words on the front page (shown above) and throughout the paper. The drop was even steeper for 2,500-word Page One stories.

In an interview with Texas Tribune's Evan Smith last week, former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller defended The Wall Street Journal's news coverage as uncorrupted by political bias. But, he said, "they've cut back significantly on investigative reporting, which had been a mainstay of the Journal." Keller continued:

Robert Thomson, who's the [managing] editor, sort of famously issued an instruction upon taking office that he didn't want any more of these stories that had the gestation period of a llama. I had to look it up. The gestation period of a llama is a year, and he didn't want any more of those stories that took a year of a reporter's time to actually deliver something he could put in the paper. I was joking around at that time that we had just published a series of articles by David Barstow that was a llama and a half. ... I'm pro-llama.

Related: Salmon: "Very long stories are often highly self-indulgent, and they take a huge amount of time, effort, and money to put together." (Reuters)

WSJ.com | Occupied Wall Street Journal | New York Times | Capital New York
A Wall Street Journal representative declined to comment on the protest newspaper, which debuted Saturday with an initial print run of 50,000. (WSJ's story notes -- probably unnecessarily -- that "the protest newspaper has no relationship to The Journal.") OWSJ co-editor Jed Brandt, 38, says a traditional broadsheet paper brings a “super hip retro” feel to the protest. “It’s so old, it’s new,” he tells WSJ's Jessica Firger. The paper's staff has raised over $46,000 through Kickstarter, and plans to publish another issue on Thursday. They say they have “enough money in the pot” to produce up to five issues this month, as long as volunteers are willing to put in the time. || Earlier stories: New York Times: Occupying -- and now publishing, too. || Capital New York: "You can't pass the Internet from one person to another, but you can pass a newspaper," says an OWSJ editor.
> NYT's Sorkin checks out the protest after getting "assignment" from bank CEO

Capital New York
Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson points out in a staff memo that the print edition ad revenue increase occurred "while other national newspapers have reported distressing declines in advertising." His note also mentions some new design tweaks that add more color throughout the paper. Thompson praises the Journal's designers for "injecting vivacity while not making us a manga." The memo, first posted by Joe Pompeo, is after the jump. (more...)

WSJ.com | Dan Gillmor
The Wall Street Journal has revised the privacy policy for WSJ.com to permit the site to connect a user's Web browsing data with personally identifiable information without consent. Previously, the policy stated that it would ask for users' permission before doing so. The Journal's own Digits blog reports that the change will enable more personalized information and services. Dan Gillmor calls it "a crappy and hypocritical move" in light of the Journal's extensive reporting on online privacy invasions. "Remember: I and other Journal readers are paying real money to use that site. We are not getting something for free in return for handing over some personal information. The Journal is just greedy." Alan Murray, executive editor for online at the Journal, tweets that Gillmor's take is "a bit overwrought. We are not sharing your data with anyone. Our commitment to privacy is evident in how we did Facebook app."

Romenesko+ Memos
Rebecca Blumenstein has been a Deputy Managing Editor at the Wall Street Journal since December 2009, and previously served as Managing Editor of WSJ.com and as China Bureau Chief. Matt Murray takes her post as International/Investing Editor and Deputy Managing Editor. Alex Martin becomes Deputy Managing Editor and National Editor, succeeding Murray.

(more...)