Little Brother's New Boss

In the financial publishing family of Dow, Jones & Co., the big breadwinner is the ably edited, highly readable Wall Street Journal (circ. 140,724). Not so prosperous or well known is its little brother, Barren's weekly (circ. 36,672). Specializing primarily in financial services and statistics, Barren's of late years has edged cautiously into the field of economic and political analysis and commentary. Recently Dow, Jones President Bernard Kilgore and Wall Street Journal Editor W. H. Grimes decided to give Barren's readers a view of a still wider horizon. Their model: the London Economist, England's most influential periodical.

Last week they found a man to direct the job. Their choice: John Davenport, a member of FORTUNE'S board of editors since 1937, longtime friend of London Economist Editor Geoffrey Crowther. Lean, intense and articulate, new Editor Davenport, 45, is a Yaleman ('26), yachtsman (he sails his own 45-ft. cutter) and an alumnus of the New York World.

On FORTUNE, Journalist Davenport, an able reporter, analyst and critic of many phases of the U.S. and world economy, did corporation stories and FORTUNE'S monthly Business Roundup, conducted a column (Books & Ideas), wrote editorials and such notable politico-economic articles as "Socialism by Default," an analysis of the U.S. drift toward collectivism. He was also coauthor, with LIFE's Charles J. V. Murphy in 1945, of The Lives of Winston Churchill, and helped edit and summarize conclusions of the first Harriman report on Europe (TIME, Nov. 17, 1947) and the Hoover commission reports.

When Davenport goes into Barron's this week, its present editor, George Shea, crack corporation analyst, will become financial editor of the Wall Street Journal. The two will work closely together. Davenport would like to see Barron's slowly become a more influential journal of political and economic opinion, but is mum about specific changes. Says he: "There's no magic in this business. It'll come out in the doing."

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