Pressure of Truth
The news, with the spin made visible.
Outlet profile

The Wall Street Journal

U.S. center-right

Owned byDow Jones & Company, a subsidiary of News Corp, controlled by the Murdoch family (Lachlan Murdoch holds voting control of the Murdoch Family Trust as of September 2025; Rupert Murdoch retains the title of Chairman Emeritus)
FundingPrimarily subscription-based (over 4.5 million digital and print subscribers as of 2025, making it the second-largest U.S. newspaper by paid circulation); supplemented by advertising revenue
On the administrationmixed

Background

The Wall Street Journal was founded in 1889 by Charles H. Dow, Edward D. Jones, and Charles Bergstresser as an outgrowth of Dow Jones & Company, a financial news service they had established in the early 1880s. The paper began as a two-cent daily focused on business and financial news for Wall Street traders and investors. Boston newsman Clarence W. Barron acquired controlling interest around 1902, and under the Barron family the paper grew from a circulation of roughly 7,000 to a national financial newspaper of record. News Corp, the media company led by Rupert Murdoch, acquired Dow Jones & Company for approximately $5.6 billion in 2007, a deal that was controversial among the paper's journalists and previous owners due to concerns about editorial independence. Under News Corp, the Journal expanded its general news coverage and launched international editions. In September 2025, a long-running internal legal dispute over the Murdoch Family Trust was settled, giving Lachlan Murdoch voting control over News Corp and Fox Corporation while Rupert Murdoch, then 94, assumed the ceremonial role of Chairman Emeritus. The paper has a long record of conservative, free-market editorial positions, but its news division is widely recognized for rigorous reporting and maintains a degree of independence from its opinion pages; the two sections have sometimes reached opposite conclusions about the same political figures and events.

Sources

  1. The Wall Street Journal – Wikipedia
  2. The Wall Street Journal – Britannica
  3. Lachlan Murdoch cements control of Fox and WSJ media empire in new family deal – NBC News
  4. Rupert Murdoch's settlement keeps Fox News, WSJ conservative – Fortune
  5. Trump disputes WSJ editorial board's criticism of Iran ceasefire – The Hill
  6. Trump's Iran approach criticized in Wall Street Journal editorial – The Hill
  7. Trump suggests new editor for the Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch – Newsweek
  8. Judge dismisses Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein reporting – PBS NewsHour
  9. Trump refiles $10 billion lawsuit over Wall Street Journal Epstein story – CNN Politics
  10. Wall Street Journal (News) Media Bias – AllSides
  11. Wall Street Journal – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check

Profile compiled 2026-06-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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