History of the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is an international daily published newspaper. Named after the popular financial district in New York, the first publication was in 1889 by Dow Jones & Company. Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser founded the establishment in 1882. Prior to being published in 1889 under its current title, the newspaper began as a smaller publication known as Customer’s Afternoon Letter. After the New York Stock Exchange was formed in 1792, the majority of business and financial news were spread by mere rumor. However, one of the first objectives of the Wall Street Journal was to enhance the way this news was dispersed. For this reason, even the earliest editions of the newspaper featured a section then known as the Jones ‘Average’ which offered a premiere listing of bond prices and stock indexes on the NYSE.

Gaining its notoriety for covering financial news and international business of a broad caliber, the Wall Street Journal was initially distributed via telegraph. However, when it was purchased by Clarence Barron in 1902 the circulation quickly grew to around 50,000 by the end of the 1920s and has massively grown every since. Amazingly, the Barron family would maintain control until 2007 when the Woodworths family took over. Although its ownership has changed throughout the years; Today, it is the largest circulation newspaper in the United States.

One genuine way the circulation has remained at the top can greatly be attributed to the launch of the Wall Street Journal Online in 1996. This online version of the popular newspaper quickly became one of the largest news sites on the Internet. Over the years, publishers of the Wall Street Journal have incorporated other prominent features to maintain its large following. Although it began as a newspaper known for providing state of the art financial and business news. The paper went on to offer new and intriguing elements such as articles, features and opinions dedicated to technology, sports, the arts, real estate, careers, life & style sections among other favorable specialties. However, one of the most attractive features that has remained over time is its long standing convention of providing complete tables of all financial activity and stock market profiles in a consistent order.

In late 2007, the newspaper’s publisher Dow Jones & Company was acquired by Robert Murdoch’s News Corporation. In this acquisition, Asian and European editions were added to the Pulitzer Prize winning publication. The Wall Street Journal is one of the most influential and respected news publications of all times and its popularity continues to grow.

Source by Jason Forthofer