Economic Extra

The Journal takes on Europe

For daily English-language coverage of commerce and finance, European businessmen have long relied on London's Financial Times. But those who needed fuller information on U.S. economic affairs, especially Europe-based Americans, had to hunt down an airmailed edition of the Wall Street Journal. That course invariably left them at least a day late and, depending upon exchange rates, nearly a dollar short. Last week, however, at some 2,000 newsstands from Scandinavia to Saudi Arabia, a new daily arrived: the Wall Street Journal/Europe, which is edited in Brussels, printed in The Netherlands and delivered before noon to about a dozen countries. Said first-day Reader Paul Home, an economist for Smith Barney in Paris: "It has acres of coverage, and it is going to give the Financial Times a run for its money."

The new Journal/Europe maintains the gray, no-nonsense style and about 50% of the content of the original, which is the largest U.S. daily (circ. 2 million). A 50-member European editorial staff supplies features and news of regional interest; the paper's model is the Asian Wall Street Journal (circ. 25,000), which started in 1976 and turned a profit last year.

English-language financial coverage is booming in Europe. The Financial Times (circ. 213,000 worldwide) started printing part of its run in Frankfurt in 1979 and now has 33,000 readers on the Continent. The Paris-based International Herald Tribune (European circ. 112,000), a general-interest daily, has increased its business coverage by 25% within the past two years. Moreover, the London-based weekly Economist (European circ. 35,000) has been joined by international editions of two American magazines, Business Week (European circ. 38,000) and FORTUNE (European circ. 45,000). Journal officials insist that the territory is large enough for everyone. But Herald Tribune Publisher Lee Huebner says he expects the new entry to take some corporate advertising, and Financial Times Managing Director Richard McClean is worried about competition for readers. Says McClean: "The Journal may be a threat to us, if we let them."

The hint of a fighting tone in McClean's words may reflect the Financial Times' decision to foray onto Dow Jones' U.S. turf: the paper is offering U.S. newspapers a weekly insert of international business coverage that made its debut Jan. 10 in the Houston Chronicle. Bigger efforts may follow. Says a Financial Times executive: "We are not printing a U.S. edition, but we should be. That is the logical next step." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.