Wall Street Journal Cuts Tech Reporters and Editors in Media Reconfiguration of Coverage
The Wall Street Journal is cutting a number of writers and editors from its technology team, adding another high-profile media company to the list of outlets that have cut jobs so far this year.
WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker announced the cuts on Tuesday afternoon.
Tucker, in a memo to staff obtained by Talking Biz News, said the layoffs are part of an overall “reconfiguring” of how WSJ covers tech, with reporters being less focused on individual companies moving forward. The outlet will be creating a new “Tech and Media enterprise team” that gives its remaining tech reporters a “wide ambit,” she noted.
WSJ already has two editor positions on the new “Tech and Media” team on its open roles page, with one based in San Francisco and one in New York City.
“The time has come for us to put in place a structure that fully acknowledges tech’s all-encompassing role in the economy and our lives. To that end, tech coverage will be part of a wider Technology & Media group, based in New York,” Tucker said in her note to staff.
One major change is that veteran editor Jason Dean, who has been the paper’s Global Tech Editor based out of San Francisco since 2016, is leaving WSJ. Dean has worked for the paper since 2001.
The News Corp.-owned paper had the largest daily print circulation in the U.S. at the end of 2024, with about 474,000 papers going out each day.
Another change is that Sarah Krouse, who runs the paper’s Los Angeles bureau, will now be the Tech & Media editor moving forward; she will be leading the paper’s revamped tech coverage from New York, but will also continue to spearhead WSJ’s L.A.-based entertainment team, Tucker clarified.
The WSJ job cuts add to a brutal start to the year for the media industry. Disney cut 200 jobs on Wednesday, while Indiewire let go of three top editors last month, Forbes cut 5% of its staff in late January and Vox was recently hit by its third round of job cuts in just two months; The Washington Post and the Huffington Post also laid off employees last month.
This recent stretch follows an ugly 2024 in which nearly 15,000 media jobs were eliminated.
