On Defense

Wall Street Journal Fights Back

"The Schadenfreude is so thick you can't cut it with a chainsaw."

The Wall Street Journal published a lengthy editorial Sunday stressing the integrity of both itself as well as its former publisher and CEO, Les Hinton. "In nearly four years at the Journal, Mr. Hinton managed the paper's return to profitability amid a terrible business climate," the Journal's editorial board wrote. "He did so not solely by cost-cutting but by investing in journalists when other publications were laying off hundreds. On ethical questions, his judgment was as sound as that of any editor we've had." The Journal also addressed the scandal-ridden papers also owned by its parent company, and the sharks circling around its leader, Rupert Murdoch. "The Schadenfreude is so thick you can't cut it with a chainsaw ... We realize how precious that reader trust is, and our obligation is to re-earn it every day."